Valiant Defence of Truth in Changchun

Authorities have detained 2,000 practitioners of the banned Falun Gong spiritual group in a northern Chinese city after a television broadcast by the group, a rights organization said on Thursday.

More than 150 followers in Changchun have been sent to "re-education through labour" camps, the Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said. Changchun's women's labour camp alone has admitted 80 Falun Gong practitioners over the last six weeks, the Hong Kong-based centre said.

Authorities have already announced the arrest of seven Falun Gong practitioners blamed for orchestrating the March 5 incident, during which cable TV broadcasts in Changchun and nearby Songyuan were interrupted to show programs attacking government propaganda against the group. The information centre said those could go on trial as early as next month.

In Beijing, the third anniversary of a 1999 protest that eventually led to the ban on Falun Gong passed uneventfully on Thursday. Only tourists were in evidence on Beijing's Tiananmen Square, where dozens of practitioners were beaten and detained last year for protesting. No one was arrested, police said. The Changchun broadcast was among the boldest and bravest acts by Falun Gong amid the persecution against it.

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