(Clearwisdom.net) Stockholm, Sweden, made up of fourteen large and small adjacent islands connected by bridges, is well known as the Venice of the North.
Stockholm was founded in the mid-thirteenth century, with a history of more than seven hundred years. Around the old city, there are such buildings as the majestic Palace, ancient Nichola churches and the beautifully shaped Stockholm City Hall in which the Nobel Prizes are announced. Right opposite the old city are the Zoo Island, the famous Nordic Museum, the "Vasa" Shipwreck Museum and the amusement parks, which attract a large number of tourists and visitors all year round.
Since July 20, 1999, another remarkable scene among the famous tourist attractions has appeared. That is the pleasant melodious Falun Gong practice music, the peaceful demonstrations of Falun Gong exercises and neatly laid display panels showing the facts about Falun Gong. Practitioners often come here telling people sincerely of the beauty of Falun Gong, the truth about the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) lies deceiving the public, and the brutal persecution of Falun Gong.
The spread of Falun Dafa in Sweden
On April 6, 1995, Master Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa, was invited to Sweden. In order to enable more people to learn about Falun Gong, Master Li made five reports on the Fa Teaching in Stockholm, Gothenburg and other places respectively with the number of attendees each becoming bigger than the other, following which from April 14 to 20, Master Li held in person a seven-day long Overseas Falun Gong Learning Class. The participants were from different cities and different occupations in Sweden, the majority of them being Westerners.
Falun Gong practitioners in front of the City Hall of Sweden to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the peaceful petition on April 25, 1999
Swedes learning to practice Falun Gong in the park
Falun Dafa has spread very quickly throughout Sweden and the neighboring countries. There are Falun Gong practice sites in over thirty cities in Sweden, everywhere in the country.
Linnea, a seven-year-old Swedish girl, lives in Stockholm. All the members of her family practice Falun Gong. Before she was born, her mother studied the Fa and did the Falun Gong exercises together with her. She learned to sing with her mother at the age of two, and she liked in particular to sing the songs composed by Dafa disciples. Her mother Marin and her father Torbjrn also joined the Falun Gong practitioners Chorus named Europe Comes For You. Linnea, who loved singing was so happy about this. She let her mother teach her to sing and so she became an additional young performer in the Chorus.
Linnea's mother Marin said: "I started practicing Falun Gong in May 1998. Afterwards, my arthritis disappeared and I have experienced great changes both physically and mentally.
In my daily life, I am always trying to set demands on myself with the principle of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and I have learned how to educate our children. Now our children are very sensible. The benefits that Falun Dafa has brought to my family are beyond words.”
People learn about the truth and join forces to stop the persecution
In order to let more people learn about Falun Gong and understand the evil nature of the CCP, the practitioners very often come out to the famous tourist attractions in Stockholm on weekends or holidays. They would hang up banners, put up display panels about Falun Gong, organize various activities to raise awareness, get the public to sign the petition against the persecution of Falun Gong, introduce to the tourists from various parts of the world the grand scenes of Falun Dafa spreading throughout the world, tell the public of the brutal persecution of the innocent Falun Gong practitioners in China and demonstrate to the public the five sets of Falun Gong exercises. All the activities have attracted wide attention of the local people of Sweden and tourists from different countries of the world.
"Falun Gong is truly everywhere in the world!” exclaimed an old couple from China on a beautiful summer day in Stockholm when they came with a tourist group to the tourist spot Vasa Museet and saw the Falun Gong practitioners doing their exercises collectively. The couple not only knew the truth but also informed others.
Falun Gong practitioners of Sweden raising awareness near the tourist spot Vasa Museet
Visitors looking at display boards to learn about Falun Gong
On July 12, 2008, the Falun Gong practitioners of Sweden organized a rally at the Mynttorget near the Royal Palace, the most popular place in Stockholm, introducing Falun Gong and exposing the CCP’s nine-year long brutal persecution of Falun Gong to the public from various parts of the world and at the same time calling on the Swedish government and the international community to help stop the CCP’s intensified persecution of Falun Gong before the Olympic Games.
Ms. Laurence, a cheerful and warmhearted French woman, came to Sweden as a tourist. She said, “It is so good of you to do this kind of thing (exposing the persecution)!” She stood in front of the display boards silently for some time and kept taking pictures. It happened that she had been to China three times. She loved China and the Chinese people very much. There were some Chinese friends around her and they all knew about the bad situation of human rights in China.
She said she would help the people in China to break away from the CCP quickly. So together with other people, she took the initiative to tell the passersby in English about the real situation of human rights in China, including her personal experiences, and to call for the kind people to join forces to stop the tyranny of the CCP so as to enable the people there to enjoy real freedom as everyone else does!
Miss Laurence from France taking pictures of the crimes of the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong in front of the display boards.
A rally was held by the Falun Gong practitioners of Sweden at the Mynttorget near the Royal Palace, the most popular place in Stockholm.
On July 20, 2010 the Falun Gong practitioners of Sweden protested the persecution in front of the Chinese Embassy in Stockholm.
On July 20, 2010, the Falun Gong practitioners of Sweden held a rally in front of the Chinese Embassy against the persecution, exposing the CCP’s eleven-year long brutal persecution of Falun Gong and calling for people of various circles to join forces to stop the persecution.
Swedish Chinese Xiaoyan was a new Falun Gong practitioner who had started Dafa practice after watching the shows presented by the Shen Yun Performing Arts for two years in Sweden. She felt lucky and proud for herself to have been able to learn the truth of Falun Gong and become a Dafa practitioner and, at the same time, felt regretful for those precious Chinese people who had not been able to learn the truth because they were deceived by the CCP’s lies. Today, her husband, who is not a practitioner, drove her for about two hours to the Chinese Embassy in Stockholm to join in the activities of protesting the persecution. Xiaoyan told everybody that her husband had learned the facts of the persecution of Falun Gong. She said, “My husband told me that eleven years ago, he felt that there must be something questionable when the Swedish Television kept broadcasting the CCP’s lies all day long. How could a media keep broadcasting them all day long and continuously for more than a week? There must be some problem with the CCP. Now he has completely understood this.”
The voice of justice from people of all circles in Sweden
On the afternoon of September 21, 2004, the Falun Gong practitioners of Sweden and Swedish human rights lawyer Peter Bergquist held a joint press conference at the Mynttorget in Stockholm announcing the lawsuit against Jiang Zemin and those who had persecuted Falun Gong practitioners. During the conference, the Falun Gong practitioner read the Letter of Support sent by the Swedish branch of Amnesty International.
Peter Bergquist said at the press conference, “While Falun Gong is non-political, but because the number of Falun Gong practitioners exceeded that of the Chinese Communist Party members, it was regarded as a threat (by Jiang Zemin). Falun Gong practitioners follow the principle of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, which made Jiang Zemin and his gang feel a greater threat from moral aspects. In many countries of the world, legal actions have been taken against the major responsible persons for this persecution and Sweden is no exception. We will bring those criminals persecuting Falun Gong practitioners to justice either in China or in Sweden.”
Ms. Helena Bargholtz, European Parliament Member Specializing in Human Rights Issues and MP of Swedish Parliament, delivered a speech at the press conference supporting the just action of the Falun Gong practitioners and the human rights lawyer to bring a lawsuit against those responsible for the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. She expressed in her speech, “I admire the courage of the Falun Gong practitioners!” Some members of Parliament came to the conference and expressed their support for the Falun Gong practitioners. Several media of Sweden interviewed the Falun Gong practitioners, the lawyer and the members of Parliament.
The Falun Gong practitioners made great efforts to raise awareness and people from all walks of life signed the petition against the persecution of Falun Gong
The practitioners have kept raising awareness and protesting the persecution, which has made more and more people of various circles in Sweden aware of the situation of the persecution in mainland China. July 20, 2009 was the anniversary of the CCP’s decade-long persecution of Falun Gong. In order to stop the CCP’s atrocities, the Falun Gong practitioners of Sweden, starting from July 11 onwards, launched a tour to raise awareness in the cities of Copenhagen-the Capital of Denmark in North Europe, Malmo in the south of Sweden, Borgholm, Helsingborg, Goteborg and Linkoping, which attracted the attention of the Swedish Government officials and the local media and won public support.
The MP Cecilia Wigstrom sent a Letter of Support for the tour activities. She said, “The Communist totalitarianism in East Europe collapsed twenty years ago. Falun Gong suffered persecution [starting] ten years ago. We have a responsibility to voice our support for the persecuted and to defend the interests of the Chinese people. The Chinese Communist Party must stop such large-scale brutal persecution!
At the rally on the 10th annivesary of the persecution, Swedish Parliament Member Marianne Berg made a speech condemning the CCP’s brutal act of persecuting Falun Gong practitioners
During the rally on the tenth anniversary of the persecution, Swedish Parliament Member Marianne Berg made a speech condemning the CCP’s brutal act of persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. While interviewed, she said, “As long as the Chinese government (CCP) does not respect human rights, I will fight for them (Falun Gong).” She called on people to do all they can to safeguard freedom of belief and speech.
