U of T engineering student and Falun Gong supporter Jason Loftus was arrested and assaulted by Chinese police during a recent protest in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.
In a press conference held Feb. 13 in Toronto, Loftus told reporters of how seconds after unfurling a banner reading “Falun Dafa is good,” he was set upon by Chinese police who tore down the banner and bundled him and fellow demonstrator Levi Browde into a van.
He was jailed for 27 hours, fed only once during his incarceration and physically assaulted.
“My arm was twisted like this,” he demonstrated to reporters, rotating his arm so that his inner forearm faced the ceiling. He was eventually released and sent back to Canada on Feb. 12.
Loftus and Browde were in Tiananmen Square to protest a video that is being circulated that depicts five Falun Gong protestors setting themselves on fire.
Loftus claims the video was fabricated and is a propaganda tool that is being used to convince Chinese citizens that the spiritual movement is a dangerous cult.
Falun Dafa is a meditation technique that incorporates teachings from Tai Chi.
It boasts 100-million worldwide followers, but is denounced as dangerous and subversive by the Chinese government.
