(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners held a parade in Berlin on July 21 to condemn the 19-year-long persecution of Falun Gong in China. The parade also highlighted practitioners' peaceful resistance to the suppression and the beauty of this self-improvement cultivation practice.
Led by the European Tian Guo Marching Band, the procession included a group demonstrating the exercises, practitioners holding pictures of those who lost lives as a result of the persecution, banners exposing the facts of the state-sanctioned forced organ harvesting, and a waist drum team.
The parade left Gendarmenmarkt at 11 a.m. and went through Unter den Linden and Kufürstendamm.
The Tian Guo Marching Band
The parade in downtown Berlin
The candlelight vigil at Gendarmenmarkt commemorating those who were tortured to death in the persecution
Two German Parliament Members sent letters of support.
Parliament Member Martin Patzelt (MdB CDU) thanked practitioners for their contributions to the cause of justice. He said there was no excuse for the persecution or the forced organ harvesting. He hopes that the Chinese government will recognize the positive impact that Falun Gong practitioners have on society and stop the persecution.
Parliament Member Nicole Höchst (MdB AfD) wished the parade great success.
Thomas Braun, the deputy mayor of the Marzahn-Hellersdorf District in Berlin, condemned the persecution in his letter.
Many people took information as well as videos and pictures. A lot of Chinese tourists were glad to see such a large scale Falun Gong parade in Germany.
Telling people about the persecution
A Chinese family watches the parade.
Chinese tourists listen to the Tian Guo Marching Band perform.
The Klug family from Kiel found practitioners very peaceful. They were very familiar with the human rights crisis in China. The father said, “It is horrible that peaceful people like Falun Gong are being persecuted in China. The Chinese government tries to show the world it is aboveboard, but inside China they persecute their own people. Everybody should pay attention to it.”
Miecheal and Claudia Zapf found the march beautiful and peaceful. The wife didn't know about the persecution and wanted to learn more. The couple was horrified about the forced organ harvesting. “It is a great way to pass on the information,” they said.
Category: July 20 Events
