Article from Finnish Newspaper “Hyvinkään Sanomat”

Finnish practitioners recently held an SOS Tour, visiting different cities in the East of Finland to demonstrate Falun Dafa and let people know the facts about the brutal persecution. This persecution has now lasted four years and the instigator, former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin, is facing lawsuits in numerous countries for his crimes against humanity. During this SOS Tour, practitioners had some great opportunities to tell people about the legal process to bring Jiang to justice. In some of the cities they visited, people had never seen Falun Dafa before and were supportive. In every city, a journalist from the local newspaper came to report on the activity and practitioners appeared on the front page of the following day’s paper. Here is a short report from the Newspaper Hyvinkään Sanomat.

Falun Gong practitioners are telling people about persecution

By Pentti Halenius

At the market place in the town of Hyvinkää, three Finnish and two Chinese people demonstrated the exercises of Falun Gong. Their flyers informed people about the murder, rape and torture that Chinese authorities are using on Falun Gong practitioners. They also let them know details of the practice itself.

A Finnish Falun Gong practitioner, Ms. Sinikka Suontakanen, ensures us that Falun Gong is not committed to any particular religion or political party. According to her, the simple exercises and meditation of Falun Gong have a comprehensive effect on health. People who practise Falun Gong regularly have recovered from all of their illnesses, even serious ones.

In the market place people could sign a petition calling for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong. The petition will be sent to the Foreign Minister of Finland.

Falun Gong at the market place of Hyvinkää

Two women wearing yellow t-shirts are concentrating and performing very slow and gentle exercises. The music in the background is Chinese.

“For this people are put into prison and are being tortured in China,” Ms. Suontakanen says, pointing to the “performers.”

The boards and posters tell about Falun Gong and the persecution. Ms Suontakanen found Falun Gong in an Expo about three years ago. Now she is practising everyday and has been on a tour of the country to tell people about the practice.

“This is not a religion. It was method that was taught in private initially, but in 1992 it was brought to public in China. When former Chinese president Jiang Zemin noticed that there were more practitioners that in the communist party, he launched a campaign of persecution against them in July 1999. This cultivation practice of mind and body is for people to improve. Practitioners strive to be good persons. I have definitely become a better person in the last three years, and I try to consider other people first. I am now more able to see how my own shortcomings when they cause problems to arise.”