Punjabi Publisher fights for press freedom in BC

2009-02-06

When Harbinder Singh Sewak started publishing his newspapers in Metro Vancouver, his dream was to help new Canadians cherish, protect and fight for the freedoms denied them in their homelands.

Little did he realize that after 20 years and two Jack Webster Awards for Excellence in Journalism, he would be fighting his own freedom of speech battle.

Sewak was forced to suspend his publications after several followers of the Falun Gong movement refused to release his Asian Pacific Post from a print shop.

Printer Frank Cui in a statement said he took issue with the balanced approach to the story.

Now the Falun Dafa Association of Canada, which champions the ideals of free speech, is threatening to silence the award-wining Vancouver weekly if it blames the movement and its doctrine for those actions.

"This is hypocrisy in slow motion," fumed Sewak, who also publishes the South Asian Post and The Filipino Post.

The South Asian Post won the Jack Webster Award last year for its crusading journalism, which set free an innocent man who was jailed for four years for a rape he did not commit. The Asian Pacific Post won the Jack Webster Award in 2003.

"We pride ourselves in our work, in our community and our independence," said Sewak.

"We don't let anyone dictate our editorial policies, let alone a printer and some Falun Gong followers."

Sewak said he will battle all the way to the top court in the land, if need be, to ensure what happened to his papers will not happen to other publishers.

The B.C. Punjabi Press Club in a statement condemned the actions to withhold the newspaper.

The club, comprising leading voices in B.C.'s Indo-Canadian media community, said that the action was an attack on the freedom of press and resolved to fully stand behind the Post group of newspapers.

The club members also described the actions as "bullying and a violation of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms" at their meeting last month in Surrey.

The controversy erupted when printer Frank Cui and his Burnaby-based Epoch printing press blocked the delivery of the Asian Pacific Post edition of Jan 8, 2009.

Printer Cui has admitted in a statement that he held the newspaper, but not before saying: "Unfortunately, news reporters feel that they must 'balance' stories about Falun Gong or events they are involved in by adding the bad words or opinions from the CCP [Chinese Communist Party], but in my feeling, between victim and perpetrator there can never be any neutrality or balance."

"Articles like this one that gives voice to the communist regime make people think that maybe the CCP is justified in their attack and that maybe Falun Gong somehow deserve to be killed or tortured," wrote Cui.

The article in question (which can be viewed at www.asianpacificpost.com) was about a theatre-and-dance production showcasing Chinese culture that is expected to perform in Vancouver this April. The story — entitled "Dancing to their own tune" — claims the group has been targeted by the Chinese government because the show is founded by and affiliated with Falun Gong practitioners.

The Falun Gong or Falun Dafa movement is a meditative practice outlawed by China, which describes it as a cult whose leaders have caused the deaths of many of its followers and collected tens of millions of dollars worldwide.

While the movement claims it has no structural hierarchy, Falun Gong websites state it has gained over 100 million followers since its inception in 1992 by Li Hongzhi — a former trumpet-player from northeast China who is known as "Living Buddha" to his devotees and an evil charlatan to his critics.

Falun Gong adherents in China claim police harassment, summary arrest, imprisonment without charge and that they have no freedom to practice their beliefs.

Publisher Sewak said his right to free speech has been suppressed by some members of the same group.

"You can't complain about not having freedom of the press in China and then turn around and suppress the same freedoms in Canada," added Sewak.

Ironically, the legal threat to the Post Group of newspapers comes as the Falun Gong movement lost its "freedom of expression" battle with the City of Vancouver over its protest site at the Chinese consulate on Granville Street.

Last Friday, a B.C. Supreme Court decision gave the City of Vancouver the right to order the takedown of the protest camp, including a cabin and billboards, which the City has argued is a permanent structure on public property.

The Falun Gong had argued that taking down the seven-year-old structure would be a violation of freedom of speech and freedom of expression.

Sewak said he has received legal letters from lawyers for the Falun Dafa Association of Canada, the Falun Dafa Association of Vancouver, pro-Falun Gong broadcaster New Tang Dynasty Television Canada, and the Divine Performing Arts Company, which is planning the Vancouver show that highlights alleged Falun Gong persecution.

The entities say they are not in any way responsible for the actions of Burnaby-based printer Frank Cui and his staff at Epoch Press.

The legal letters stated the Falun Dafa Association of Canada and Vancouver, which represent the Falun Gong community, is distressed at being portrayed in the media as decision makers and perpetrators with respect to this incident.

The lawyers threatened that should Sewak's papers persist in future to disseminate statements about Falun Dafa's involvement, they will be forced to initiate legal action.

Earlier, one of the lawyers, Clive Ansley, wrote: "I personally have been acquainted with the principals of the Asian Pacific Post for many years and have the highest regard for them personally and for the standards of journalism which have always characterized that publication."

Meanwhile, the incident has outraged journalists across Canada and internationally.

In Hong Kong, the influential South China Morning Post reported that, "The Asian Pacific Post, an award-winning newspaper published in Vancouver has been shut down temporarily by Falun Gong followers who are protesting against a review of a dance show."

Both Metro Vancouver's mainstream dailies, the Vancouver Sun and The Province, also reported on the case, with the latter publishing an editorial saying: "Falun Gong followers involved in this case show a disturbing side to the Falun Gong. The control they say China exerts on them is the same control they want to exert on others. The freedom they say China denies them is the same freedom they have denied the Asian Pacific Post."

The matter has also been aired by the CBC and taken up by independent bloggers.

One blogger – ChineseinVancouver – wrote: "I can't believe this . . . Falun Gong blocks publishing a paper that carries a story that seems to be sympathetic to them? Now you know what free speech these people claim they treasure and are fighting for. It's free only if you concur with their views."

Asian Pacific Post Managing Editor Michael Roberts said aside from the economic impact to his business, which is considerable, this is an assault on press freedom and an insult to all Canadians who enjoy rights and privileges enshrined in Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The Epoch Times, which is a voice of the Falun Gong movement, has been silent on the issue, while the Chinese media in B.C. has also refrained from reporting on the matter.

A Chinese newspaper editor said his publication does not want to deal with the Falun Gong.

"They are never happy with what you write and want to have their own version all the time . . . if you write something negative about them, they will call you, e-mail you non-stop . . . I have no time for this," he said.

By Mata Press Service

(The South Asian Post, February 4, 2009)