Beijing – Chinese police on Saturday detained five members of groups promoting independence for Tibet after they staged a ‘die-in’ in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, a witness and supporters said.
Photographs and a video distributed by the London-based Free Tibet Campaign showed four of the protesters wrapped in Tibetan flags and lying on the square to stage the ‘mock die-in’.
The fifth protester, identified by the group as Canadian citizen Christopher Shwartz, stood in front of them to explain to onlookers that they were ‘calling for an end to the Chinese government’s occupation of Tibet’.‘We’re here from several different countries to speak out for the people of Tibet,’ the video showed Shwartz, 24, saying in the square.
‘This peaceful protest is also to shine a light on human rights abuses inside of Tibet during the occupation (by China),’ he said.
Here are videos:
(1) In china, at t square
i happen to have stumbled upon a set of protesters in tiananmen square
(2) One of the journalists who was recorded the protest had is passport stolen by security/police. 10 mins later his passport was returned.
Read also: Canadian protester detained in Beijing.
