(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners held a rally in Budapest next to St. Stephen’s Basilica on July 18, 2026, to raise awareness of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution and state-sanctioned forced organ harvesting, and to observe the 27th anniversary of the persecution. They displayed banners and collected signatures on a petition calling for the persecution to end.

People sign a petition at St. Stephen’s Square in Budapest on July 18, 2026. (Minghui.org)

Many people stopped to read the information and talk with practitioners. Others watched practitioners demonstrate the exercises and took photos and videos.

Practitioners held a candlelight vigil on the evening of July 18 to commemorate the practitioners who died due to persecution. (Minghui.org)

Practitioners held a candlelight vigil in the evening, to commemorate the practitioners in China who died from the persecution. Many people stopped to listen to the speeches, and many showed their support for the practitioners’ efforts to stop the persecution.

Szilvia Fekete, representing the Hungarian Falun Dafa Association, said the persecution has gone on for 27 years. “July 20, 1999 is one of the darkest days in the history of modern China. On this day, the CCP launched a nationwide persecution of Falun Dafa,” she said.

Ms. Fekete said that a few years after it was introduced, Falun Dafa became one of the most popular cultivation practices in China, and even according to official estimates, millions of people were practicing. However, the CCP viewed the widespread popularity of Falun Gong as a threat to its control. This led to the launch of an unprecedented campaign of persecution on July 20, 1999.

In the 27 years since the persecution began, millions of practitioners have been harassed, arbitrarily detained, imprisoned, tortured, and deprived of their basic rights. International human rights organizations and independent investigations have documented numerous serious human rights abuses.

“Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, these three principles have inspired millions of people. They remind us that peace is stronger than violence, compassion is stronger than hatred, and that in the end, the truth cannot be silenced,” she added. “When these principles are persecuted, it affects not only Falun Gong practitioners, but also the values upon which every free and humane society is built.

“That is why July 20 is not only a day to remember the victims, but also a day to stand up for conscience, human dignity, and religious freedom. Despite decades of oppression, Falun Gong practitioners around the world continue to peacefully stand up for truth and human rights,” she concluded.

Students from Poland, along with their teacher, signed the petition to help end the persecution. (Minghui.org)

The practitioners’ display attracted many passersby who stopped to learn more about the persecution. A group of students from Poland were visiting Hungary as part of a school trip. The teacher stopped to listen and was deeply moved by the perseverance of practitioners in China even though they are being persecuted. She signed the petition, and then brought her class over to learn about the persecution and sign as well.