(Minghui.org) Almedalen Week, an annual forum which features speeches, seminars and other activities, was held in Visby, Gotland Province, Sweden from July 3 – 7, 2022. Practitioners participated in the event to introduce the spiritual practice of Falun Dafa, and to expose the persecution it faces in China. They demonstrated the exercises, handed out information about Falun Dafa and re-enacted organ harvesting atrocities perpetrated on practitioners in China.
Practitioners demonstrate the Falun Dafa exercises during Almedalen Week, Visby, Sweden
This is an election year in Sweden, and the activities during the forum were well attended by people from all walks of life. Eight Swedish political parties and more than 800 organizations and companies from all over the country held various events. The forum aims to provide a platform for political parties and people from all walks of life to discuss developments in Swedish society.
The practitioners’ event at Donners Plats, where forum speeches were held every day, provided a good opportunity for people from all walks of life to learn about Falun Dafa.
Condemning the Persecution in China
Practitioners did the exercises at Donners Plats, and their peaceful exercise demonstration presented a sharp contrast with the shocking scenes of the re-enactment of the CCP’s live organ harvesting and torture. Many people stopped and talked with practitioners to learn more. Some said that they never heard of such a horrible thing (organ harvesting), and they were shocked. Many people signed a petition calling to stop the CCP’s atrocities.
On the afternoon of July 5, Lotta Johnsson Fornarve, Member of Parliament (MP) and Ann-Sofie Alm, MP, attended the event. She gave a speech to support Falun Dafa and condemn the persecution.
Lotta Johnsson Fornarve, MP, gives speech during the event.
Ms. Fornarve said in her speech, “The China Tribunal in London in 2019 went through lots of evidence and issued a verdict that the CCP was still engaged in the illegal and criminal business of live organ harvesting, and had long stolen organs from Falun Dafa practitioners, Uyghurs and other prisoners of conscience on a large scale.”
She called on the Swedish government to, “Urge the international community to conduct an independent investigation into the matter and to put forward requests through all their contacts with China. At the same time, the Swedish government should also legislate to ban citizens from organ trading outside Sweden. If any Swedish citizen participates in this criminal act, he or she should be punished.”
Ann-Sofie Alm, MP, said that the CCP attempted to silence her.
Another Swedish MP, Ann-Sofie Alm, called for the world to pay more attention to the China Tribunal report. She said that everyone in the world should be aware that the CCP was committing the most vicious crimes and infringing on human rights.
She said, “The CCP’s brutal persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners has been going on for more than 20 years. The CCP is afraid of practitioners who follow Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and improve themselves via peaceful meditation. The CCP locks up Falun Dafa practitioners without legal procedure, and even conducts live organ harvesting. We must make concerted efforts to stop the illegal organ trade murdering prisoners of conscience. It would be a disgrace to us human beings if it were allowed to continue.”
She also mentioned that the CCP attempted to silence her. She said, “It is impossible and I will never be silent! I am not alone. The Swedish government and people from all walks of life have begun to wake up, and they are all paying attention to the heinous things that are happening in China.”
People watch practitioners’ re-enactment of the CCP’s torture and organ harvesting.
Practitioners talk with forum attendees.
People Learn the Falun Dafa Exercises
Practitioners demonstrated the exercises during the event. Some practitioners handed out flyers to passersby, while other practitioners talked to people and answered questions. Many people were attracted to the peaceful exercise music and learned the exercises on the spot.
People learn the Falun Dafa exercises.
A Swedish gentleman in charge of an environmental protection product booth received a Falun Dafa flyer. After reading it carefully, he said he was moved. He returned to the Falun Dafa booth the next day with many questions and talked with practitioners for more than half an hour.
“Please tell me how one practices Dafa,” he said. “The CCP’s persecution of Falun Dafa is still going on. What can I do for practitioners?”
He continued, “I have been curious about the meaning of life since I was a child. I’ve constantly looked for answers. But when I became an adult, I gradually gave it up with all the troubles that followed, thinking that I couldn’t find it anyway. I am very interested in practicing Falun Dafa.”
Practitioners explained how one practices Falun Dafa to him in detail, and told him how the CCP persecutes practitioners through lies and violence. Before he left, he put his hands together, thanked practitioners, and said he wished to learn how to practice the exercises during the forum week.
When a pair of sisters passed by the practitioners’ booth, one said that she felt powerful energy and wished to learn more about the practice. It turns out that the older sister lives in Gotland and the younger sister is from Stockholm. They listened carefully to a practitioner clarify the truth and they read the display boards in front of the booth.
Afterwards, they learned the exercises. They said they felt refreshed and said Falun Dafa is good. The younger sister said that she would go to a group practice site to learn the exercises when she returned to Stockholm.
Two sisters are interested in Falun Dafa.
Predestined People from City of Falun
One young man talked with practitioner Viveka and explained that he was from the City of Falun in Sweden and said, “I really wish to know what the relationship is between Falun and Falun Dafa.”
Vivika said, “Falun is located in the middle of Sweden, while Falun Dafa is an ancient Chinese spiritual practice. It is based on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and practitioners strive to become good people. The pronunciation of both is the same.”
Vivika suggested he and his friends go to the Falun Dafa website for more details. She told them about the persecution and said that when the CCP persecuted Falun Dafa, all email addresses with the word Falun were blocked. She said there are no human rights in China. The young people listened attentively, but had to leave.
In the evening when the event was about to end, the four young people hurried back and asked if practitioners could show them how to meditate. They said they were glad that they met Falun Dafa practitioners.
Four young people from Sweden's City of Falun learn Falun Gong meditation.
Background: What Is Falun Dafa and Why Is the CCP Persecuting It?
Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) was first introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in Changchun, China, in 1992. The spiritual discipline is now practiced in over 100 countries and regions worldwide. Millions of people who have embraced the teachings, which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and learned the five exercises, have experienced improved health and well-being.
Jiang Zemin, former head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), perceived the spiritual discipline’s growing popularity as a threat to the CCP’s atheistic ideology and on July 20, 1999, issued an order to ban the practice.
Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners as a result of the persecution over the past 23 years. The actual number is believed to be much higher. More have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith.
There is concrete evidence that the CCP sanctions the harvesting of organs from detained practitioners, who are murdered to supply the organ transplant industry.
Under Jiang’s personal direction, the CCP established the 610 Office, an extralegal security organization with the power to override the police and judicial systems and whose sole function is to carry out the persecution of Falun Dafa.
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