Statement of Russian Falun Gong Association, January 2012

Statement of Russian Falun Gong Association, January 2012

On December 22, 2011, the regional court in Krasnodar, Russia confirmed the decision of the lower court that materials of Falun Gong - including its main book "Zhuan Falun", "Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China" authored by two Canadian lawyers David Matas and David Kilgour, as well as leaflets “Falun Dafa Around the World” and “Global Human Rights Torch Relay” about the persecution of Falun Gong in China by the Chinese communist regime are to remain on the list of extremist publications of the Ministry of Justice of Russia.

The decision may result in restrictive measures against Russian Falun Gong practitioners: criminal prosecution; administrative arrests and fines; searches and confiscations of Falun Gong-related materials; prohibition of group practice sites and public activities, arrests of the participants.

In Russia, about one hundred thousand copies of “Zhuan Falun” book have been sold over the past few years, and there are many Russians learning Falun Gong practice free of charge at various practice sites across Russia. This court decision would affect tens of thousands of people in Russia.

Mass violations of the rights of Falun Gong practitioners by the Russian authorities have already taken place in recent years. In most cases, public activities were prohibited, based on the Article 8 of the treaty between Russia and China - “On Being Good Neighbours, Friendship and Cooperation between the Russian Federation and PRC” signed on June 16, 2001.

For this court case, there is only one last chance left for our appeal in Russia - the Supreme Court. We call on  international support to ensure justice, transparency and a fair trial.

We urge the international communities to pay serious attention to this court case and to protection of the basic rights of Falun Gong practitioners in Russia, so that they have the right to practice their belief and read “Zhuan Falun” book, already translated into more than 39 languages and shared by 100 million people in over 114 countries.

Contact Information:

Sergey Skulkin, Ph.D, skulkin@fldf.eu
Falun Gong Association in Russia