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Polish Member of Parliament Holds Press Conference About Warsaw Harassment Incident (Photo)

June 17, 2008 |  

(Clearwisdom.net) At noon on June 12, 2008, Mr. Andrzej Czuma, a senior member of the Polish Parliament, held a press conference in his congressional office about a Falun Gong practitioner being attacked by a pro-Communist Party agent. Ms. Zhang Xi, the practitioner who was attacked, was invited to talk about her personal experience of how she was harassed and threatened with death by a pro-Communist Chinese person. The Falun Dafa Association, the International Association of Human Rights and several other groups also attended the press conference. Many media outlets, including the Polish News Agency, Polish State Television, RMF Radio, NTDTV and The Epoch Times covered the event and conducted interviews.


The press conference venue. From left to right: Ms. Zhang Xi, Mr. Andrzej Czuma, a Polish Member of Parliament, Mr. Jekielek, a Polish representative from the International Association of Human Rights, and Mr. Marcin Klebba, a spokesman for the Falun Dafa Association.

Ms. Zhang Xi, who has lived in Poland for 14 years, was attacked at Wolka Kosowska, a wholesale shopping center near Warsaw, in which there are a majority of Chinese businesses. Ms. Zhang has gone to the shopping center every week to distribute the Chinese Epoch Times. Everyone in this area knows that she is a Falun Gong practitioner. Nothing unexpected had happened before this incident.

During the afternoon of Saturday June 7, Ms. Zhang saw an unfamiliar woman at the shopping center. As usual, most Chinese who go shopping at the center know each other, so Ms. Zhang wanted to say hello to her. They approached each other and passed by with nothing unusual happening.

A few minutes later, the woman (later identified by the shopkeepers as Lei Wu) approached Ms. Zhang from behind, snatched several of her newspapers and tore them up. When Lei Wu tried to take some more newspapers, Ms. Zhang stopped her. It was just this moment that Lei Wu pushed Ms. Zhang and then hit her on the back. Very quickly, they two were separated, and Ms. Zhang continued distributing newspapers.

Ms. Zhang's hands were injured when she tried to protect the newspapers.

Two hours later, a woman named Wu Xiaoxia started screaming at Ms. Zhang. She was later identified by shopkeepers as Lei Wu's mother. Lei Wu quickly reappeared at the scene and threatened Ms. Zhang again. When Ms. Zhang took out her camera, Lei Wu was stopped by her mother. At that time, Lei Wu threatened to kill Ms. Zhang.

Some business owners in the shopping center said that Lei Wu used to work in the Chinese Embassy in Poland. Three days before this attack, Ms. Zhang made a speech at a rally during the "Global Human Rights Torch Relay." It was noted that while she spoke she was being recorded by someone from the Embassy.

Ms. Zhang has reported the case to the local police, who are currently investigating the incident.

On June 12, Mr. Andrzej Czuma, a Polish MP, hosted the news conference about this harassment incident. MP Czuma is a pioneer in the pursuit of democracy and freedom in Poland. He was persecuted for many years in a Communist Party prison and he is recognized as a former Polish Solidarity hero.