CBC: Canadian Falun Gong follower arrested in China

Last Updated Wed Jan 23 22:39:32 2002

BEIJING - A Canadian woman who is a follower of the Falun Gong spiritual movement was arrested in China on Wednesday.

Connie Chipkar, 61, is expected to be deported within days. Canadian Foreign Affairs officials are looking into the case.

Connie Chipkar

The resident of Mississauga, Ont., was arrested in Tiananmen Square while holding a one-woman demonstration to bring attention to the movement. Wearing a sash reading "Falun Gong" and "SOS," she raised her arms and sang.

Chipkar, who began to follow the spiritual movement four years ago, is the latest Westerner to go to China to promote the cause.

Her son, also a Falun Gong practitioner, was in China last November and filmed the arrest of Zenon Dolnyckyj, 23, of Toronto, and 36 others from a dozen countries. They were later expelled.

But Falun Gong members in Canada are concerned that Chipkar's experience might be worse because there won't be as many countries putting as much pressure on China.

Joel Chipkar

Joel Chipkar says he's worried about his mother's well-being.

"The reality is, she's in China and just this month over the last 20 days, 30 people have been confirmed dead in police custody," he said.

Falun Gong was banned by China in 1999. Thousands of Chinese practitioners have been arrested since then with allegations of torture and abuse surrounding their detention.