UK MP Worked Actively for Safe Return of Practitioner Arrested in Beijing

On 13 February, four UK practitioners were arrested in Beijing. They returned to London the following day amidst a warm welcome from practitioners and the cameras and microphones of journalists. When the press conference finished and the returning practitioners rested their feet, it became apparent that there had been no news of the fifth practitioner who had also gone to Beijing - 18-year-old Leeds Grammar School student Alex Rostron.

The next morning, several practitioners started to contact the Foreign Office, the airports, airlines, as well as Alex’s family. They were quickly joined by Alex's warm-hearted MP Mr Fabian Hamilton, who had known Alex through many correspondences and had offered his support on several occasions for the human rights of Falun Gong practitioners in China.

Mr Fabian Hamilton quickly contacted the Foreign Office and soon afterwards he directly telephoned the Foreign Office Minister, Denis McShane, to ask the UK government to secure the safe return of Alex. The minister was very helpful. He telephoned Mr Fabian Hamilton well after working hours on Friday evening, saying that he would ensure that Alex's case received the highest priority and that he would make it clear to the relevant organisations of the importance of Alex' safe return to the UK. The Minister also kindly offered Alex’s family his direct personal telephone number so that they could obtain the fastest and most authoritative information and help.

When Alex was finally on his way home, Mr Fabian Hamilton was among the first to know and quickly informed practitioners working on Alex's return. He pledged that he would follow up the matter of human rights abuses Alex suffered by contacting the relevant authorities of the UK government.

Reported by UK practitioners

02-22-2002