Protest deportation of fellow practitioner
On May 18, San Francisco Bay area Falun Gong practitioners rallied outside the Russian Consulate protesting the Russian Government for deporting a 73-year-old Falun Gong practitioner back to China. This is the second deportation executed by the Russian Government this year.
While the practitioners protested outside the consulate, the consulate promised to pass the practitioners' appeal letter to Moscow.
Chinese citizen Gao Chunman, 73, is a former professor of Tshinghua University and a Falun Gong practitioner. Due to the persecution, he fled to St. Petersburg. In 2003, he applied for UN refugee status and his application was granted. According to his Russian wife Mira, several immigration officers took Gao away from their home at 11:30 a.m. on May 12. During the incident, the officials did not provide any document or give any explanation.
According to Mira, police informed her in the evening of May 12 that the authorities had flown her husband to Moscow at 6:30 p.m. to wait for the earliest flight to Beijing. Mr. Gao had a stroke two years ago and his current condition is unknown.
Russian immigrant Nataly Teplitsky participated in the May 18 protest. She said that she had been practicing Falun Dafa for 6 years and felt very sad about the deportation of Gao Chunman. Though Russia has been heading to democracy over recent years, under pressure from the CCP, its unlawful deportation of UN refugees has violated UN convention. Mr. Gao is a UN refugee and should be protected.
Teplitsky had appealed to the consulate. She said that she talked with a deputy consulate general. The consul said that he had never heard about the deportation and promised that he would pass practitioners' appeal letter to Moscow.
