Court orders Falun Gong to remove protest hut from Chinese consulate
CP – A B.C. Supreme Court judge has ordered Falun Gong protesters to remove their billboards and protest hut from the front of the Chinese consulate in Vancouver.
The religious group had been holding a round-the-clock vigil since 2001, protesting persecution of the Falun Gong in China.
The City of Vancouver went to court claiming the group was breaking a bylaw with the structures encroaching on the sidewalk, while members of the Falun Gong argued the bylaw stifled their freedom of expression rights.
But B.C. Supreme Court Justice Sunni Stromberg-Stein ruled that erecting permanent structures goes against the fundamental purpose of the street.
“I conclude that there is a breach (of the bylaw) as the permanent structures encroach on the City street and constitute an obstruction of the City street,” Stromberg-Stein said in her decision.
“There are no exceptional circumstances which justify a refusal to grant an injunction sought by the City.”
The judge ordered the group to take down its wooden billboards and protest hut within a week.
Stromberg-Stein emphasized she was referring only to the permanent structures on the sidewalk, and not other methods used in the group’s protest vigil.
“This injunction does not prohibit or limit the right of the respondents, or any other persons, to lawfully assemble on any street or any part thereof,” she said.
Persecution of Falun Gong adherents in China has been widely documented.
On Aug. 20, 2001 Falun Gong practitioners in Vancouver set up cloth banners and a small makeshift shelter outside the consulate.
It evolved into a structure eight feet high and 100 feet long that’s covered with posters and photographs of human rights abuses, as well as painted messages like, “Stop Killing.”
Stromberg-Stein said three complaints regarding the vigil have been documented over its entire duration.
