September 4, 2001
GRENOBLE, Sep 4, 2001 -- (Agence France Presse) Three Chinese members of the Falun Gong movement who live in France and who were detained while visiting relatives in China have been released, a support group announced here Tuesday.
The trio, a couple and their teenage daughter, were seized in a raid on August 7 while visiting family in north China's inner Mongolia region.
Ivan Samson, a member of a support group, said the family had made it known that they were "doing well, were out of prison but they can't say when they will come back to France."
The spiritual group identified the family as Chi Jian, a researcher in the southeastern French city of Grenoble, his wife Sun Fenglong and their daughter Chi Yifan, all of whom hold French residency.
The Chinese government has a previous record of detaining overseas nationals or residents when they go to China to visit relatives, the Falun Gong information center said.
Human rights groups estimate that hundreds of Falun Gong followers have been sentenced to jail terms and tens of thousands sent to labor camps, while more than 100 are reported to have died in police detention.
http://www.europeaninternet.com/china/news.php3?id=633167oion=default