Poland: Falun Gong Practitioners Hold a Large Scale Event in Warsaw

On September 21st, 2007, the Polish version of Zhuan Falun was formally published in Warsaw. Zhuan Falun is the main text by the founder of Falun Gong, Mr Li Hongzhi, and it has been translated into over thirty languages. The publication of the Polish version of Zhuan Falun lays a foundation for Polish people to know and learn about Falun Gong, a great way of cultivation spread from China.

In the early morning, in the square in front of the Science and Culture Palace in central Warsaw, a group of several hundred Falun Gong practitioners from twenty eight countries meditated peacefully and they formed two Chinese characters of ‘Righteous Fa’. The whole square was filled with a peaceful and serene atmosphere. Passersby stopped to watch and accepted leaflets, as well as a copy of the Epoch Times newspaper's editorial, the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party. The European ‘Coming for you’ choir also came to support and brought their repertoire of songs for the Polish people to enjoy.

On September 22nd, about four hundred Falun Gong practitioners from twenty nine countries held a two day event in Warsaw

At lunch time, Falun Gong practitioners’ parade started. The waist-drum team was the first group with a group of 'fairies' following. The parade included several groups with different themes, such as Falun Gong spreading through the world, practitioners’ fight against persecution, the Communist party’s crime of harvesting Falun Gong practitioners’ organs, Nine Commentaries and the huge tide of quitting the Communist party. The procession walked through the busiest street in Warsaw and finally arrived at the Chinese Embassy and held a rally there. Vice-President of the European Union Edward McMillan-Scott sent a congratulatory letter to this Falun Gong rally in Poland.

Polish Falun Gong spokesman Jan Jekiellek told reporters that Polish society had immense interest in Falun Gong and human rights abuses and the persecution of Falun Gong in China were often reported. A major newspaper in Poland would publish a relevant article every two weeks. Last Thursday, the Human Rights Committee of the Polish Parliament invited a member of an international human rights organisation Wu Manyang to do a special report on the human rights abuses on the issue of Falun Gong. This cross-party parliament committee was composed of twenty four members from all the parties in the Parliament. Many parliament members took part in the meeting and the petition to condemn Communist Party’s persecution of Falun Gong got over one hundred signatures from MPs on that day.

Jan Jekiellek also mentioned that the publication of the Polish version of Zhuan Falun together with over 400 Falun Gong practitioners from the whole Europe taking part in events in Warsaw, which was unprecedented and had huge influence on the country. At least seven mainstream media, including two TV stations and the two of the biggest newspapers had lengthy reports of this Falun Gong event.

Ms Sarciman, who was in charge of publication said that the publishing house originally planned to publish a series of books about the Orient, including Feng Shui, divination and qigong. Zhuan Falun was only a part of their original plan. However, after reading Zhuan Falun, the editorial department decided to publish Zhuan Falun only, saying, ‘The content of the other books cannot be placed on a par with Zhuan Falun at all’. Now, many staff members from the publishing house are preparing to learn and practise Falun Gong.