The Irish Falun Dafa Association claimed that peaceful demonstrators were surrounded by officers and given conflicting instructions on whether protests were allowed. They said that Irish police officers were “unwittingly” used by the Chinese communist regime during Premier Li Qiang’s visit in Dublin this week. The demonstrators claimed were obscured from sight by police officers while pro-Beijing crowds were allowed to shout and wave flags near the delegate.
According to the Irish Falun Dafa Association (IFA), a group of adherents of the spiritual group, who gathered “peacefully to raise awareness and highlight the persecution” of the group in China during the state visit, were hidden from sight while pro-Beijing crowds were allowed to gather near the delegate.
Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is a spiritual discipline with slow-moving exercises and the doctrine of “truthfulness, compassion, tolerance.” Since 1999, adherents of the belief in China have been harassed, imprisoned, tortured, and killed. In 2019, a people’s tribunal in London, chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice, KC, found that practitioners of Falun Gong had been the main victims of China’s state-sanctioned forced organ harvesting.
In response, practitioners outside of China have campaigned for international pressure on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and often held peaceful demonstrations when CCP officials visit their countries.
The Irish Falun Dafa Association claimed that the policing of its demonstrations has been disproportionate. They suggested that the group was told by some officers that protests and banners were not allowed outside the hotel where the delegate was staying.
The IFA said demonstrators reported being followed by suspected CCP agents, and some police interventions appeared to have occurred “at the behest of a CCP agent.” One day before the state visit, the IFA had called on Mr. Varadkar to raise “the issue of the ongoing persecution and the forced organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners in China” with Mr. Li in a letter to the prime minister
In a statement to The Epoch Times, a police spokesperson said, “An Garda Síochána [The police] recognises the right to peaceful protest and has a strong tradition of facilitating freedom of peaceful assembly. A comprehensive policing plan was put in place to facilitate the official State visit of the Premier of the People’s Republic of China, Mr. Li Qiang.”
Meanwhile, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on Thursday, condemning the CCP’s ongoing persecution of Falun Gong and calling for an international investigation.