On March 25, Russian police again disrupted a peaceful appeal by Falun Gong practitioners. The practitioners were staging an appeal to end the persecution of Falun Gong in China. Twenty-two individuals were arrested outside of the Chinese embassy.
Policemen began to force posters and banners out of the hands of the Falun Gong adherents, pushing them away from the Chinese embassy. After refusing the police's advances, the 22 individuals were arrested and charged with disturbing public order. The Falun Gong practitioners were subpoenaed for a court hearing scheduled the following day.
According to the Falun Gong practitioners, they had informed authorities of their plan for an appeal, but were refused permission due to Article Eight of the Russian constitution supporting friendly relations between Russia and China. Since such an appeal could only be legally banned by a court, the group decided that they would still technically be within the bounds of the law if they continued to stage their planned event.
The day before, on March 24, police interfered with another peaceful appeal, arresting twelve Falun Gong practitioners.
Feeds