(Clearwisdom.net) On May 21, 2004, the east route of "Van Tour to Support the Lawsuit Against Jiang Zemin" set off from New York City and arrived at Liberty Bell Plaza in downtown Philadelphia, where the team held a news conference at 10 am. They arrived at Chicago on May 22 to support the lawsuit filed in Chicago against Jiang for committing genocide.
Passersby, tourists and students sign petition
Ben Sebasteien, Ben Zgodny and 40 other practitioners drove seven vehicles and set off at 5:30 am from New York City and arrived at the Liberty Bell Plaza at 7:30 am. They held a news conference at 10 am to call upon people to support the lawsuit to be heard on May 27 in Chicago against former President of China Jiang Zemin for committing genocide.
Surrounded by tourists and staff working in nearby office buildings that took lunch break at the Liberty Bell plaza, practitioners participating in the van tour demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises. They also distributed truth-clarifying materials to passersby and held a news conference with local practitioners to call for bringing Jiang to justice and an end to the persecution. The weather was nice in Philadelphia, and a constant stream of people came and went. Group after group of students led by their teachers visited the plaza. Seeing Falun Gong practitioners wearing sashes with the words, "Stop persecuting Falun Gong", many people came over to see what was going on.
A huge piece of cloth was placed in front of the display posters. Many people passing by signed their names after hearing about the persecution of Falun Gong and the crimes committed by Jiang Zemin. Ms. Cherri Barron and her daughter Sydney also signed their names on the cloth. She expressed her support and said, "This is a place of freedom."
A police officer said that he accepted a video CD a year ago at the Liberty Bell, and he felt very sympathetic towards Falun Gong practitioners. He showed the VCD to many of his friends. This time, he asked for a thick stack of Falun Gong truth-clarifying VCDs and said that he would give them to his family and friends.
Ben Sebasteien, who has practiced Falun Gong for four years, said, "I joined this van tour because I benefited from Falun Gong very much. I know that the Jiang's regime has spread lots of lies and many practitioners have died from the persecution. I myself was also a victim. Two years ago, I went to China. Just because I brought a copy of a Falun Gong book, I was detained for 24 hours and later deported. My book was also confiscated."
Ben Zgodny, who started practicing Falun Gong in March of last year, said, "I benefit from the practice very much. Previously I suffered from chronic illnesses and my body felt achy everywhere. This disappeared almost instantly after I started practicing Falun Gong."
Two female students Ragmhildur and Ragnheidur, who came from Iceland to visit Philadelphia, said that they remembered clearly that in June 2002, when Jiang visited Iceland, Falun Gong practitioners were barred from entrance to the country. This led to a big protest by the Icelandic people. They said, "That behavior was just too ridiculous!"
Regarding whether former President of China Jiang Zemin should enjoy head-of-state immunity in the lawsuit in Chicago, Sebasteien said, "I knew that Hitler killed millions of Jews in the Second World War, and my grandparents were among the victims. This kind of person should not enjoy any immunity. Jiang Zemin also killed many people, many innocent Falun Gong practitioners. Millions of people are tortured and imprisoned. I don't believe he should enjoy any immunity."
Zgodny pointed out, "He is no longer the President of China, and he absolutely should not receive any immunity. He also should not receive immunity according to United Nations regulations. Why should someone who tortures and kills his own people be placed above the law? There is no reason to allow this kind of people to enjoy immunity."
Dora Li feels that Jiang Zemin cannot represent China, "He can't represent the Chinese people. Chinese people are kind and they uphold justice. It was simply because of Jiang's jealousy. He felt that too many people were practicing Falun Gong. He committed mass murder and it should not be tolerated." Dora, who is an American citizen, said that she went back to China in February 2002 to appeal for Falun Gong. She was detained in the Tiananmen Detention Center for 23 hours. She was not allowed to go back to China for the next five years. As a result, she was unable to go back to China to attend her mother's funeral last year. This caused severe emotional difficulties for her.
When the van tour arrived at Constitution Hall, a visiting delegation was waiting outside the hall. From their appearance, one could see that they are from China. They looked surprised and confused when seeing the van tour motorcade and the signs on the vans that read, "Falun Dafa", "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance", the Falun emblem as well as banners reading, "Stop the persecution" and "Bring Jiang to Justice". They watched silently, and the Falun Gong practitioners smiled and waved towards them.
Sebasteien said that his wish was, "Stop the killing, and stop the persecution of Falun Gong". Zgodny said that he would be satisfied if even one more person understood the truth about the persecution of Falun Gong in China.
Category: Rallies & Protests
