Falun Gong deny Tianamen suicide bids


Smoke hangs over Tiananmen Square shortly after five people tried to set themselves alight

BEIJING, China -- One man is dead and four others injured after a group, described by Chinese police as members of the banned Falun Gong, set themselves on fire in Tiananmen Square.

The incident was witnessed by a CNN camera crew.

But a spokeswoman for Falun Gong meditation group denied the people were members of the group.

"This is not Falun Gong practitioners. It is against our beliefs to kill ourselves or anyone else," said Gail Rachlin, a Falun Gong spokeswoman.

"Don't you see what the PRC is doing? They're trying to get into the media, which is what they said they would try to do. This is a one-sided media campaign and they're trying to engage others, like CNN," Rachlin said.

She said more than 120 Falun Gong protesters have been tortured to death in police custody and only a handful of these deaths have been reported by the PRC.

"They [the Chinese government] said that they committed suicide or had heart attacks," she said.

A CNN producer and cameraman saw a man sit down on the pavement, pour gasoline on his clothes and set himself on fire. Flames shot high into the air against a backdrop of a gray Chinese New Year's Eve afternoon with piles of snow packed onto the square.

Police ran to the flames and extinguished them within minutes, as security personnel rushed to the area just north east of the Peoples' Heroes Monument at the square's center.

A few moments later, as military police apprehended the CNN crew and physically restrained them, the crew witnessed four more people immolate themselves.

Videotape confiscated

The four raised their hands above their heads and staggered slowly about, flames tearing through their clothing.

The crew witnessed the first man who had set himself ablaze being driven away in a police van. He appeared to have serious burns on his face, and CNN producer Lisa Weaver could smell burning flesh as the van slowly passed.

Four other bodies lay on the pavement after authorities put out the flames. Shortly afterward, portable screens were erected in two spots to shield the bodies from view. One badly burned victim lay on the ground waving his or her hands.

Nearly 25 minutes after the incident two ambulances arrived and took the victims away.

One appeared to be a woman, and was left on the pavement the longest -- possibly indicating that she was dead.

The CNN crew which attempted to film the scene was detained by police and their videotape was confiscated.

Police issued the CNN crew a statement saying that one person had died and four were injured. It said all were members of Falun Gong.

The police statement said another person had been detained on the scene with two flasks of gasoline.

According to the statement, the Falun Gong followers had burned themselves under the direction of Li Hongzhi, leader of the "evil cult."

Li Hongzhi is presently living in exile in New York.

Police on alert

Police had been on alert for protests by Falun Gong adherents on the eve of the Lunar New Year, the most auspicious date in the Chinese calendar.

Last year thousands of believers descended on Tianamen Square, and television pictures captured shocking scenes of police pummeling and kicking elderly sect members and dragging women away by their hair.

As night fell on Tiananmen on Tuesday, thousands of paramilitary police swamped the area. Officers frisked people trying to get onto the square, combed through bags and checked IDs. Hand-held fire extinguishers stood at the ready.

The square itself, usually filled with revellers during New Year festivities, was almost empty. Scores of white police vans were parked around the perimeter.

Reuters contributed to this report.