Falun Dafa Information Centre Germany: Xiong Wei Finally Finds Freedom

Former student of Berlin’s Technical University returns to Germany

In September 2004, Mrs. Xiong Wei arrived in Germany. She has suffered two years of unlawful detention at Beijing’s female forced labour camp, located in Daxing. The German Government, the International Society for Human Rights (“ISHR”) and many friends have called for the release and return to Germany of Mrs. Xiong Wei. The organisation “Friends of Xiong Wei” collected thousands of petition signatures.

On January 5th 2002, Beijing police arrested her because she distributed information about the persecution of Falun Gong in China. Subsequently, she was sentenced to two years in a concentration camp, for so-called “re-education through work”, without legal procedures.

Mrs. Xiong Wei, thirty three years old, is a former student of the Technical Univeristy of Berlin, as well as a former employee of the German Buderus AG subsidiary in Beijing.

Her unequivocal release in January of 2004 was not expected by Falun Gong practitioners, but was without doubt the reason for the public attention, including attention by the German Government, the media, and international entities. Her family held deep anxiety, as she could have been arbitrarily arrested again at any moment.

Immediately after her arrest, German Falun Gong practitioners, the “Friends of Xiong Wei” and ISHR began intensive efforts to gain her release and to the German Government were also involved. Her name was prominent on the list that Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder presented to the former Chinese President during his state visit to Germany, in April 2002.

Germany’s Falun Gong practitioners express their deepest gratitude to the German Federal Government and its representatives for its efforts to gain the release of Mrs. Xiong Wei. Germany’s Falun Gong practitioners also express their deepest appreciation to the ISHR and the tens of thousands citizens who helped in this effort with their signature, petitions, postcard campaigns and writing of songs.

Although we are overjoyed with this wonderful event, we cannot forget the millions of Falun Gong practitioners who continue to suffer under the persecution in China, and whose lives are in constant danger. We wish to remind the public worldwide that human rights in China are violated daily, and we wish to stress that Falun Gong practitioners suffer from cruel torture. It is important to understand that death through torture continues in China.

Translated from German at http://de.clearharmony.net/articles/200409/19563.html