The authorities refused to allow Falun Dafa followers to hold protests during the visit of the head of the People's Republic of China.

Russian followers of the "Falun Dafa" school sent a notification to the relevant authorities about holding rallies during the forthcoming visit to Moscow of Chinese President Hu Jintao. On March 21, the authorities refused to hold rallies.

The first rally was scheduled for March 26 at the Kutafya Tower of the Kremlin. A notice of its holding was sent to the Moscow mayor's office, since the location of the action required approval from the Federal Security Service. The second protest action was supposed to be held on March 25 and 26 in front of the Chinese embassy.

The refusal to hold the rallies was motivated by references to Article 8 of the "Treaty of Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China" dated July 16, 2001, which suggests that "none of the contracting parties does not allow the creation and activity on its territory organizations and groups damaging the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of the other contracting party".

On March 24, the police tried to interfere with a one-man picket organized by Falun Gong practitioners in front of the PRC Embassy (no approval is required for a one-man picket). On March 25, more than thirty Russian Falun Dafa practitioners participating in a new rally at the same location were detained. We quote the message of Portal-Credo.ru:

"On March 24, a one-man picket was set up in the park in front of the Chinese Embassy building, for which no approval is required, but the police began to push the picketer deeper into the park, trying to interrupt the picket. two picketers were detained, and then the rest of the Falun Dafa practitioners who were at some distance, however, all eight detainees were soon released.

"They started detaining us, even though we strictly observed the rules of single-person picketing stipulated by federal legislation of the Russian Federation," says Anton Kolyada, one of the picketers. "Many were detained without any legal grounds and taken to the police station." Outraged by the illegal detention, Falun Gong supporters decided on Sunday, March 25, to gather more people outside the Chinese embassy.

However, on March 25, the police detained all those who came to picket - more than 30 people, taking them to the Ramenki police station. The detainees spent several hours here, while protocols were drawn up for them on violation of the procedure for holding rallies and marches. At about 6 pm everyone was allowed to go home, announcing the need to appear at 7 pm on March 26 in court. However, the picketers are going to ask that the court session be postponed, as many of them have to come to work. According to the participants of the rally, which was dispersed in the same place in June 2006 , the court will inevitably return the protocols for correction to the 'Ramenki' police department, as has happened before."

On March 26, it became known that the trial was postponed to the 28th.

On March 26, Svetlana Kim, a journalist for the Velikaya Epoch newspaper, was detained. According to Portal-Credo.ru, "according to the editors, Svetlana Kim was detained by FSB officers in the building of the 'Crocus City' complex, located at the intersection of the Moscow Ring Road and Volokolamsk Highway, where she covered the opening of the National Exhibition of China. March 27 to the exhibition, which will work Chinese President Hu Jintao, who is visiting Moscow, is due to arrive at the Crocus Expo exhibition center by March 29. Svetlana Kim was taken to the nearest police station.The Epoch Times newspaper constantly covers the situation of Falun Gong practitioners in Russia and in the world. The latest issues focused on practitioners' activities in connection with Hu Jintao's visit to Moscow and the beginning of the Year of China in Russia."

In addition, the portal provides some details of the detention of picketers on March 24:

"According to the newspaper 'The Great Epoch', the first Falun Gong adherents to be detained were 68-year-old Zoya Surova and Gerlitz. Around noon, Valiullov, Shchetkina (30 years old) and Markin (28 years old) were sent to the police. By 15.30, the number of detainees 8. Six of them are citizens of Russia, and two - Evgeny Brug (33 years old) and Elena Podsosonnaya (21 years old) - citizens of Ukraine. disobedience to police officers and violation of the registration regime in Moscow are indicated.The rest were released without formalities within three hours.

About 50 police officers and people in civilian clothes took part in the arrest. One of them, who introduced himself as Alexander Kulagin, said that the detentions were carried out in order to ensure the peace of mind of diplomats, while referring to the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Article 29 of the Vienna Convention states that "the receiving State is under an obligation to treat a diplomatic agent with due respect and to take all appropriate measures to prevent any attack on his person, freedom or dignity."

On March 26, a correspondent from the Velikaya Epoch newspaper was not allowed to attend the opening ceremony of the Year of China in Russia. The newspaper sent an application for accreditation of its journalist and received a positive response. At the entrance to the territory of the Kremlin, it turned out that the correspondent of the "Great Epoch" was ordered to be deleted from the list of accredited journalists.

Sources

• Russian Falun Dafa followers were not allowed to hold a rally during the Chinese President's visit to Moscow // Portal-Credo.ru. 2007. March 22.
• URGENT: Over 30 Falun Gong Practitioners Detained by Police for Picketing at Chinese Embassy in Moscow // There. March 25.
• Trial of Falun Gong Practitioners Detained at Chinese Embassy in Moscow Postponed to March 28 // There. 26 March.
• Detentions of Falun Gong Supporters Continue in Moscow // There. March 27th.
• The journalist of the newspaper "The Great Epoch" was not allowed to the opening ceremony of the Year of China in Russia // There. March 28th.