Elderly Woman Protesting Persecution of Falun Gong is Attacked

Attacked for staging a peaceful protest. 72-year-old Mrs. Lin from Thailand is now nursing a broken arm. Two unidentified men punched and beat her with a metal bat last Friday. The attack happened across the road from the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok. Since 2005, Mrs. Lin has been meditating here to protest against the Chinese regime’s persecution of the Falun Gong spiritual practice.

[Mrs. Lin, Falun Gong Practitioner]:
“At around 9:00 am, a man started to hit me with a metal bar while I meditated. I opened my eyes, and he continued to hit me. Afterwards they punched my stomach three times.”

Mrs. Lin, who is originally from China, says the attackers then snatched her protest banners and ran off. Those banners, according to Mrs. Lin, said things like “Truth, Compassion and Tolerance is Good,” referring to the three tenets of Falun Gong’s teachings. She says her protest is aimed at exposing the crimes that the Chinese Communist Party has been committing against Falun Gong practitioners since 1999.

[Mrs. Lin, Falun Gong Practitioner]:
“I’m here because my fellow practitioners are severely persecuted, as an elderly practitioner, what I can do is to let people know the goodness of truth, compassion and tolerance, and how the wicked people are persecuting good people.”

The elderly woman says she does not know her attackers, but suspects they may be connected to the Chinese Embassy. She says the same men tried to take down her banners several weeks ago, and during Friday’s attack they shouted at her to stop displaying them in the future.

[Mrs. Lin, Falun Gong Practitioner]:
“Who’s behind this? You may take a guess. Who in the world does not tolerate ‘truth, compassion and tolerance’, it’s very clear.”

After the attack last Friday, Mrs. Lin reported the incident to the Thai police, who are now investigating.