With only a few days to go until Christmas, Annett Munter and her brother, both Falun Dafa practitioners from Öhringen, sent a package to China. The package was filled with a blanket, hygiene products and a few pieces of chocolate.

December the 8th was their friend’s 33rd birthday. This is her second birthday since she lost her freedom. Xiong Wei studied at the Berlin Technical University for six years. During that time she began to practise Falun Gong, an ancient and traditional Chinese cultivation practice.

She was arrested on February the 5th 2002, on her return to China after she had completed her studies, for distributing flyers and criticising the Chinese government. She was sent, without legal proceedings, to the infamous Xinan camp near Beijing, a camp which is notorious for torturing its inmates.

Her German friends fear for her life. Her friends, including the two from Öhringen, have established a support and rescue group that can be visited at www.friends-of-xiongwei.de. They are trying to make her plight known through distributing postcards, petition signature campaigns and their own music.