Indonesia: Practitioners Hold Peaceful Appeal in Front of the Chinese Embassy in Jakarta

On June 13th, 2005, Falun Dafa practitioners went to the Chinese Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia to hold a peaceful appeal similar to the other two recent appeals at the same site. One of the previous appeals was held on April 25th, 2005 during Chinese President Hu Jintao's high-profile visit. The other appeal was on May 6th. Because the practitioners displayed banners with the words, "Respect Human Rights," and sat close to the embassy to hold a peaceful sit-in protest, twelve practitioners were detained by the Indonesian police on April 25th, and six were detained on May 6th. The police claimed that the practitioners violated the 11th municipal law, a 1988 law about "Occupying the space in an area to grow trees." In actuality, the unreasonable police action resulted from pressure from the Chinese embassy.

Appealing in front of the Chinese Embassy	Reporters ask for leaflets from practitioners
"Stop Persecuting Falun Gong In China" banner	Talking to police officers about the situation

After the incident, a practitioner who was unlawfully arrested consulted a human rights organisation for details about conducting peaceful appeals. The answer he received was that the police violated the law by arresting practitioners who had carefully observed legal procedure. The organisation has also written to the police asking for a legal explanation of the practitioners' arrest.

Upon hearing the practitioner's story, several reporters said that they then understood the situation: the Indonesian police acted on the attitude of the Chinese Embassy. The embassy wanted them to arrest practitioners, and the police acted accordingly. Several reporters also asked why the Chinese Embassy was so nervous when practitioners held such relatively small-scale protests, especially when compared to other organisations' protests.

The reporters also asked about the attitude of the embassy and the police toward this appeal. The practitioner said that he had conducted two peaceful appeals since his arrest in April. In neither case did the police resort to violent actions to interfere. He asked the police not to follow the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in their persecution of Falun Gong. The practitioner also told them that a former Chinese diplomat had denounced the regime and applied for asylum in Australia. As more and more people within the regime are now denouncing the party, the practitioners hope that the Indonesian police will not follow orders from the CCP any more.