WARSAW—Polish politicians are lining up in strong condemnation of the recent attack and death threat against a Falun Gong practitioner in Warsaw. Parliamentarians Andrzej Czuma from the ruling Civic Platform Party, and Pawel Poncyljusz, from the rival Law and Justice Party, convened a joint press conference in Czuma's office on June 12 to call upon the Foreign Ministry to immediately investigate the incident that parallels the now daily violence against Falun Gong practitioners in New York City that started May 17.
In NYC's Flushing district, a high-level Chinese Consular official admitted to an undercover investigator that he was personally involved in organizing and inciting mobs to attack Falun Gong practitioners.
On June 7 in Poland, Ms. Zhang Qian, a 14-year resident of Poland, was physically assaulted while delivering the Chinese-language edition of the The Epoch Times newspaper to Chinese businesses. The attacker, identified by witnesses as Chinese National Ms. Lei Wu, grabbed the newspapers from Ms. Zhang, tore them up, and punched Ms. Zhang from behind in an attempt to steal more papers.
Ms. Lei returned two hours later, telling Ms. Zhang, "If I see you here again, I will kill you."
Ms. Zhang has been delivering papers for over a year without incident and is widely known in the Chinese community to be a Falun Gong practitioner.
"It was hard for me to believe that something similar to the Flushing mobs in New York happened to me in Warsaw here in Poland," said Ms. Zhang.
Various members of the city's close-knit Chinese community said that Ms. Lei works closely with the Chinese embassy in Warsaw, which has not been confirmed by the embassy. Ms. Lei was distributing pro-Chinese Communist Party propaganda CD's about Tibet when she launched the assault.
Mr. Czuma said that if the Foreign Ministry confirms that the assailant is a Chinese embassy employee then "diplomatic intervention" could be invoked.
Polish Member of European Parliament, Hanna Foltyn–Kubicka, wrote a letter to the Chinese Ambassador of the European Commonwealth to "condemn any attacks against Falun Gong practitioners" stating that it will not be tolerated for the Chinese government to "export its human right violations against Falun Gong practitioners."
"What is worse," her letter states, "official Chinese state media is using the attacks to further spread propaganda defaming Falun Gong claiming that practitioners are interfering with earthquake relief efforts—a farcical allegation."
Ms. Foltyn–Kubicka said she "shall call upon the EU to investigate the attack in Poland and to see that those responsible are brought to justice."
A second Polish MEP, Mr. Janusz Onyszkiewicz, Vice-chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs told the International Society for Human Rights, an NGO that works extensively on China human rights issues, that he will write to the Chinese Ambassador to Poland as well as strongly urge the police who are investigating the case to make it a priority.
"I wish for all representatives of… Falun Gong to have complete freedom of action in the territory of Poland," said Mr. Czuma.
Feeds