Swedish Newspaper Reports on Falun Dafa Appeal

On Saturday 3rd May 2003, reporter Mats Bengtsson from the Swedish newspaper Motala Tidning wrote an article about Dafa practitioners from Motala appealing in Stora Torget (the town square). The article described how practising Falun Gong allows one to gain harmony between body and mind, and that the people of Motala could find out more about the practice during this demonstration. The report outlined how the purpose of the appeal was not only to demonstrate the Falun Gong exercises, but also to raise awareness of the brutal persecution of Dafa practitioners in China, where over 100,000 practitioners have been imprisoned and many have been killed because of their beliefs.

The article stated that, ‘Besides the information about the persecution, a special flyer has been printed about the lung disease SARS,’ and continues by quoting a Swedish practitioner: “The fact that China kept the spreading of SARS secret from other countries for several months, is another example of how the regime lies to the people of China and the people of the world.”

The article concluded by explaining that Falun Gong is based on the principles of “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance” and that Motala practitioners practise the exercises as a group in the local park every Saturday and Sunday, where everyone can learn the exercises free of charge.