Warning: This story contains disturbing images of injuries that some readers may find confronting.
Falun Gong practitioners have allegedly been assaulted near Sydney’s Central Station, leaving one elderly man with a bloodied face.
The incident occurred in Belmore Park, south of the CBD near Sydney’s Chinatown, and comes following a difficult week for Falun Gong practitioners after bomb threats were made against a planned documentary screening.
At about 10.50 a.m. on Dec. 2, officers responded to reports of an assault and found two men, aged 68 and 24, had been attacked with an empty glass bottle.
A short time later, 39-year-old Kane Hodges was arrested and taken to Surry Hills Police Station.
“It will be alleged that whilst in custody at Surry Hills Police Station, the man assaulted a male constable,” New South Wales (NSW) Police said in a statement to The Epoch Times.
“The man was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm, common assault, and assaulting a police officer in execution of duty without actual bodily harm.”
Hodges was refused bail on Dec. 4. The Epoch Times understands the man has a history of mental illness and violence.
Struck in the Face With a Bottle
One of the attacked men, Li Kun, said he had been taking part in group exercises with other Falun Gong practitioners when he noticed Hodges throwing one of their display boards.
“He was chasing after Wang [another Falun Gong practitioner] and tried to hit him with the empty wine bottle,” he told The Epoch Times.
Li said he gestured for the man to stop before the man allegedly turned on him instead.
“I wore a hat. He lifted my hat and hit me on the forehead, striking my left eyebrow and the bridge of my nose,” Li said. “It was very painful at the time, and I bled a lot. Blood started flowing immediately.”
Li’s glasses and belongings were splattered in blood before the man allegedly ran off.
Two passersby who saw the incident called the police.
A second victim, a 24-year-old man who asked to be identified only as Robin, said he was struck on the arm.
Follows Spate of Violence and Threats
The incident comes amid a spate of security incidents affecting the Falun Gong community in Sydney.
Last week, Falun Gong practitioners and a Western Sydney church planned to screen State Organs, a documentary exposing the Chinese Communist Party’s organ harvesting practices.
However, a bomb threat, followed by a mass shooting threat, was sent via Eventbrite to organisers. Police launched an investigation, and the event was cancelled “out of an abundance of caution.”
Days earlier, Falun Gong practitioners in Canberra reported being jostled and struck by members of a pro-Beijing community organisation, the Fuqing group, during a visit by CCP official Zhao Leji.
The Fuqing group was trying to shield the senior official from seeing banners calling for human rights reform in China.
NSW Police are expected to take additional security precautions at another upcoming State Organs screening on the Central Coast on Dec. 7.
Living in Fear?
Li said the recent incidents had unsettled some practitioners.
“Some fellow practitioners may become more cautious about such incidents happening,” he said.
“For example, they may be more aware of passersby or those who seem unusual.”
Lucy Zhao, head of the Falun Dafa Association of Australia, said the group did not intend to “live in fear,” but believed threats and intimidation linked to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) overseas activities were increasing.
“We are experiencing growing threats and intimidation linked to the escalating transnational repression,” she said.
“Recent incidents underscore this alarming trend. Despite these pressures, we will not be silenced. We will continue to speak out and expose the CCP’s human rights abuses until the persecution of Falun Gong ends.”
Since the CCP initiated a nationwide persecution of Falun Gong in 1999, the regime has also exported its efforts overseas, targeting Falun Gong beyond its borders, amid what the G7 countries have called “transnational repression.”
The Epoch Times contacted federal MP Tanya Plibersek and state MP Alex Greenwich, whose electorates include Belmore Park, for comment.
