DATE=11/3/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=CHINA - FALUN GONG (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-255765
BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON
DATELINE=BEIJING
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: China has formally charged four members of
the banned Falun Gong exercise and meditation movement
with organizing an illegal gathering in an attempt to
undermine the law. VOA correspondent Roger Wilkison
reports the indictments by prosecutors in southern
Hainan province come days after China's legislature
outlawed Falun Gong and other groups the government
considers dangerous cults.
TEXT: China's state-controlled news media say the
four alleged Falun Gong leaders are accused of
gathering more than 180 followers of the movement in a
park in Haikou -Hainan's capital-in defiance of a
government decree last July banning Falun Gong. The
gathering took place in August.
The media reports say the accused -identified as Song
Yuesheng, Jiang Shilong, Chen Yuan and Liang Yulin --
could go on trial within the next ten days. But no
trial date has as yet been set.
The prosecutors accused Mr. Song of inciting other
Falun Gong members to disrupt the implementation of
state laws. They accused the other three of refusing
to mend their ways -meaning renouncing their
allegiance to Falun Gong-despite repeated warnings to
do so.
Three other Hainan Falun Gong leaders, whose
detentions have been reported by state-owned media,
have still not been indicted.
The Chinese government is stepping up its crackdown on
Falun Gong, accusing it of destabilizing the fabric of
Chinese society. It also accused the group's founder
-Li Hongzhi, who lives in the United States-of causing
the deaths of 14-hundred members by advising his
followers not to seek medical help.
The movement stunned the government in April when it
mobilized 10-thousand followers to conduct a sit-down
protest outside the leadership compound in Beijing to
demand official recognition for the group. Diplomats
in Beijing say China's leaders see Falun Gong as a
threat to the authority of the Communist Party.
A Hong-Kong based group that monitors human rights in
China says the authorities are widening the crackdown
on Falun Gong to encompass other martial arts and
spiritual movements. The Information Center of Human
Rights and Democratic Movement in China says the
leaders of two martial arts groups -Cibei Gong and Guo
Gong-have been arrested over the past week. (signed)
NEB/RW/GC/PLM
03-Nov-1999 04:47 AM EDT (03-Nov-1999 0947 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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