Canada: Member of Parliament Writes in Support of Rescue Efforts for Practitioner Mingli Lin

Verdun, March 24, 2003

As Member of Parliament for Verdun -- St-Henri -- St-Paul -- Pointe St-Charles, I am writing this letter to add my support to the effort to release Falun Gong practitioner Mingli Lin from a Chinese Labour camp.

While I appreciate that it is a sensitive issue to comment on the internal affairs of another country, I would like to add my voice to my colleague, Mr. Irwin Cotler, M.P. for Mount Royal, and other Canadians from across the country who are demanding the immediate release of all illegally held Falun Gong practitioners in China, and decry the continuing violation of human rights that Mingli Lin's imprisonment represents.

Mingli Lin's arrest two years ago for his so-called "crime" of "spreading of flyers of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" as quoted from his imprisonment document, cannot be tolerated by the international community, and I support the continuing efforts of Irwin Cotler, an international human rights lawyer who has defended political prisoners from around the world, in this matter.

We await Mingli Lin's release with others who believe in fundamental freedoms--the freedoms of conscience and belief, of assembly and association, and of expression and opinion.

Liza Frulla, M.P.
Member of Parliament for Verdun -- St-Henri -- St-Paul -- Pointe St-Charles