(Clearwisdom.net) On the evening of April 25, 2008, Falun Gong practitioners in Switzerland held candlelight vigils at the Chinese Embassy in Bern and the Chinese Consulate in Zurich, commemorating the peaceful appeal in Beijing by over ten thousand Falun Gong practitioners nine years ago and protesting the Chinese Communist regime's intensified persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in "preparation" for the Olympic Games.

Falun Gong practitioners protest at the Chinese Embassy in Bern

Practitioners protest at the Chinese Consulate in Zurich

The candlelight vigils commemorated all Falun Gong practitioners who have been persecuted to death by the Chinese Communist regime in the past nine years. Photos exposed the atrocities committed by the regime in its brutal persecution of Falun Gong. Practitioners also hoped that the staff working in the Chinese Embassy and Consulate would learn the truth and not be accomplices in the persecution of innocent people.

In Zurich, practitioners handed out leaflets to passers-by, informing them about the practice of Falun Gong and exposing the Chinese Communist regime's persecution of the practice.

The leaflets read: "We come here today to commemorate this special day nine years ago. On April 25 1999, ten thousand Falun Gong practitioners held a peaceful appeal in Beijing, asking the government to release all illegally detained Falun Gong practitioners and to grant them a peaceful environment to practice Falun Gong. That day the then Chinese Premier came out and met representatives of Falun Gong practitioners. When the news that all illegally detained Falun Gong practitioners had been freed was announced that evening, ten thousand Falun Gong practitioners immediately dispersed, leaving behind a clean and tidy place. Even the cigarette butts thrown away by the police were picked up and taken away."

A gentleman immediately started to read the leaflet under the streetlight. A practitioner told him the reason for the candlelight vigil: "Less than three months after the peaceful appeal, the then head of the Chinese Communist Party Jiang Zemin initiated the brutal persecution campaign against Falun Gong practitioners. Practitioners who believe in Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance have been illegally detained and subjected to torture. Many of them died. The Chinese Communist regime has even harvested organs from living Falun Gong practitioners." The practitioner added, "We hope that through our activity here more people will become concerned about this persecution and help to stop it. Over a hundred million people have benefited from practicing Falun Gong. It would be great if people learn about the persecution and share it with others so that more people can learn about it. This way the Chinese Communist regime's lies will have no place." The gentleman listened very carefully and said he would read the information carefully.

The activity in Bern was held in an elderly couple's courtyard that is just opposite to the Chinese Embassy. The couple said that they are willing to support the activity, because they believe that Falun Gong practitioners are doing a good thing.

The Consulate staff in Zurich seemed to be fearful of the peacefully meditating Falun Gong practitioners, and called the police. A Falun Gong practitioner said, "Several policemen already know Falun Gong very well because they have issued activity permits to Falun Gong practitioners before. Today I talked to them and told them about the persecution suffered by Falun Gong practitioners again. I told them that in China, the authorities even harvest organs from living Falun Gong practitioners." During the two-hour activity, a number of policemen learned about the persecution taking place in China.

The activities ended at 11:00 p.m. Falun Gong practitioners will continue to peacefully tell more people about the ongoing persecution. For nine years, practitioners around the world have been peacefully and rationally clarifying the truth, just as the practitioners in China did during the appeal of April 25, 1999.