Wednesday, 10-Apr-2002

POTSDAM, Germany, April 10 (AFP) - About 100 supporters of the spiritual movement Falun Gong protested on Wednesday against alleged Chinese represssion, during a visit here by President Jiang Zemin, police said.

Dressed in yellow jumpsuits and carrying banners reading: "Stop Jiang Zemin's Execution Orders" and "More Than 100 Dead", the group was kept far from the visiting president by a strong police deployment.

Wednesday's demonstration followed two days of small protests by the group in Berlin. Jiang arrived in the German capital Monday for a six-day state visit.

He has largely been shielded from the public and the press during his stay. German President Johannes Rau and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder broached the subject of civil rights violations in China during closed-door meetings but have refrained from publicly criticizing their guest.

Falun Gong was banned by the Chinese government in 1999 and has since faced an at times violent crackdown by law enforcement authorities, with tens of thousands of followers rounded up and imprisoned.

[...]

Some 2,000 Falun Gong adherents live in Germany.

Jiang traveled from Berlin to the neighboring state of Brandenburg early Wednesday, where he met with regional government head Manfred Stolpe and business leaders in the capital, Potsdam.

http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/bg/Qgermany-china-Falun Gong.Rwm0_CAA.html