A meeting of the Falun Gong was broken up by demonstrators in Jakarta.
Yesterday in Glodok, Jakarta, a meditation session of the group was set upon by about 100 local people and forced to disperse. A number of Falun Gong people were assaulted. The meditation session, at an old market site in Glodok, was being held to protest against the trade in human organs supposedly carried out by the Chinese government, and the general persecution of the group in China. Upon arriving at the scene Falun Gong members were greeted with banners that said:
Glodok people totally reject the activities of Falun Gong.
(Warga Glodok menolak keras aktivitas Falun Gong.)
Threats were screamed, and then dozens of people descended on the Falun Gong groups, who numbered about ten, and assaulted them.
A representative from the Falun Dafa, Tata Ermanta, claimed that the Chinese embassy in Jakarta had paid the protestors, and said the Chinese embassy had business interests and connections in the Glodok market. He said:
Glodok is a centre of the Chinese community, the Communist Party of China finds it easy to influence people there.
(Glodok pusat etnis turunan. Partai Komunis Cina paling gampang mempengaruhi warga di sana.)
Tempo says this is the fifth time this year Falun Gong people have been at the receiving end of intimidation. All episodes were reported to the police but, Tata says, no action has ever been taken.
The Metrotv report claims that the breaking up of the meeting was done because traders in Glodok accuse the Falun Gong of disrupting business activities. They also distribute leaflets and the report suggests that locals are fed up with them. Locals had long ago made known their objection to the group but the Falun Gong had distributed a leaflet that made threats against them and this caused the attack on the meditation session. Locals are said to hope that the government will take action against Falun Gong and prevent them from disturbing the life of the area.
(Indonesiamatters.com, Aug 7th, 2006)
Original text from: http://www.indonesiamatters.com/570/falun-gong-in-jakarta/
