(Minghui.org) Practitioners in southern Bulgaria held activities on January 27 and 28, 2024, to tell people about the persecution of Falun Dafa in China. At their booths in Gabrovo and Stara Zagora, they set up information display boards and banners, distributed leaflets and origami lotus flowers, and collected signatures on a petition to condemn the serious human rights violations being carried out by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The town of Gabrovo, which lies at the foot of the Balkan Mountains on both sides of the river Yantra, was the largest textile centre in Bulgaria after the Bulgarian Liberation of 1878. Practitioners held an informational event on January 28, and many people stopped to talk with them.
While they were still arranging their banners, a woman stopped and asked about the event. She said that she had been in Shanghai, China, years ago, but this was the first time she had ever heard about the persecution and atrocities being committed there.
“This is terrible. I can’t believe it. I’ve never heard about anything like this,” she said. She commended the practitioners for offering people a chance to sign the petition.
Another woman who stopped by said she had also visited China and knew there were places in China where people were forced to work 12 to 14 hours a day. She also signed the petition and wished practitioners good luck in their efforts.
Introducing Falun Dafa at a Health Festival
That same day, other practitioners participated in the Hello, Health! Festival in Gabrovo to tell people about the health benefits of practicing Falun Dafa. They explained to visitors that they lived by the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance.
This was the first time practitioners had participated in the festival in Gabrovo, and many people were interested in learning more about Falun Dafa.
They also hosted events for children at their booth, including showing them how to fold origami lotus flowers and reading the children’s book The Lotus Story to them. Both activities promote Falun Dafa’s values to people of all ages, helping them to be more honest, kind, and tolerant.
A Frenchman, Vivian, stopped by with his Bulgarian friend Jana. Vivian said that he already found information about Falun Dafa on his own and was listening to Master Li Hongzhi’s teachings online in French.
He was pleased to find out that there were practitioners in Gabrovo, and when he heard that other practitioners were at the petition stand not too far away, he and Jana went there and signed it.
After they returned to the festival, they exchanged phone numbers with local practitioners and said they wanted to learn the exercises.
Passerby in Stara Zagora: “I am appalled by what I am hearing!”
Practitioners set up a booth on Stara Zagora’s main pedestrian street on January 27, 2024, to tell people about the persecution in China. The banners, table, and informational materials captured the attention of passersby, and many people read about how terribly the government treats Falun Dafa in China.
A man riding by on a bicycle said he was drawn to the booth and banners and wanted to know more about what was happening.
Two practitioners explained why they were collecting signatures on two petitions: One called for an end to the CCP and its human rights abuses, and the other urged Bulgarian institutions and citizens not to become accomplices in the illegal organ trade in which organs are harvested by force, mostly from practitioners in China and sometimes while they are still alive. The man said this was the first time he had ever heard about the persecution.
“I am appalled by what I am hearing!” he said, and signed both petitions.
Media Coverage of the Persecution
Kremena Krumova, a Bulgarian practitioner, was invited to be a special guest on Bulgaria 24 TV. She told viewers about the ongoing persecution of Falun Dafa in China. She also spoke of the panel discussion co-hosted by Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting (DAFOH) at the United Nations to inform delegates of the CCP’s forced organ harvesting from practitioners on the occasion of China’s Universal Periodic Review. During the review, members of the United Nations Human Rights Council analysed China’s human rights record.
“This is a DAFOH initiative. It is an open letter to the United Nations in connection with the Universal Periodic Review of China,” she said and told viewers about DAFOH’s open letter to all UN members.
She also brought up the recent European Parliament Resolution 2024/2504 (RSP) of January 18, 2024, condemning the ongoing persecution of Falun Dafa in China. This is the third European Parliament resolution condemning the persecution of Falun Dafa in China and was supported by two Bulgarian members of the European Parliament, Angel Dzhambazki and Ilhan Kyuchuk.
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