DEPORTED FREE TIBET ACTIVISTS ARRIVE AT FRANKFURT AIRPORT TODAY AFTER DRAMATIC OLYMPIC PROTEST IN BEIJING

August 11, 2008 · Print This Article

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts: In Germany, for David Demes: Gabriele Demes, +49 64829 490206
In London (German & English language): Dechen Pemba, +44 7784 823907
In London (English language): Han-Shan, +44 7876 327143

Frankfurt – Tibet supporter David Demes and Tibetan-German Padma-Dolma Fielitz return home today after being deported for demonstrating for Tibetan freedom in Beijing.

David Demes held a dramatic protest in Tiananmen Square with four other Tibet activists early afternoon Saturday, August 9th, calling for an end to the Chinese government’s occupation of Tibet. Demes and three others staged a “die-in,” lying on the ground draped in Tibetan national flags, with the famous portrait of Mao in the background. A fifth activist narrated the context and background for the political theater. Demes, 21, from Germany, Evan Silverman, 31, Diane Gatterdam, 55, and Joan Roney, 39, from the United States, and Chris Schwartz, 24, from Canada, were detained by plain-clothes security approximately ten minutes after the protest began.

Demes departs from Hong Kong at 11:05pm on August 10th on Turkish Airlines Flight #7, connects through Istanbul, and arrives on Turkish Airlines Flight #1587 in Frankfurt at 10:35am on August 11th. Spokespeople from Students for a Free Tibet will be available for comment by telephone, and Demes will offer remarks on his actions in Beijing and subsequent detention and deportation.

Demes, 21, was born in Limburg, Germany and is currently studying and living in Giessen. He is currently a primary coordinator of Students for a Free Tibet Germany.

Photos and video footage of Demes’ action and his full biography are available at: http://freetibet2008.org/globalactions/tsquare/

Padma-Dolma Fielitz staged a protest just outside the southern entrance of Tiananmen Square with four other Tibet activists at 3:10pm Beijing time on Sunday, August 10th. Padma-Dolma and another activist held the Tibetan national flag aloft before being accosted by Chinese security personnel. As Chinese security tried to wrest the flags away, Padma-Dolma was seen being dragged across the ground. Shortly after, three other activists attempted to unveil a large banner reading “Tibetans are dying for freedom,” before being removed by Chinese security officials. The protest lasted approximately five minutes and all five protesters were detained by the Chinese authorities.

Padma-Dolma, 21, from Germany, has a Tibetan father and a German mother. She was born and raised in Germany and currently lives in London where she studies Economics and Development Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies. The other four activists included two Americans, John Hocevar, 40, of Austin, Texas, and Adam Zenko, 35, of San Francisco, California and two Canadians, Maude Côté, 28, of Quebec, and Steven Erich Andersen, 28, of Alberta.

Before the action, Padma-Dolma said, “There are no words to describe the terrible suffering of my people at this moment – the Chinese government is relentlessly crushing the Tibetan people when they desire nothing more than the restoration of their basic rights and freedom. Tibetans are being killed, silenced and marginalized, our precious religion strangled, as the Chinese government attempts to extinguish all trace of Tibetan identity. I am protesting today to tell the world that, while it stares mesmerized at China’s Olympic Games, my people are being crushed under the boot of Chinese oppression.”

Padma-Dolma is the first Tibetan known to have protested in Beijing since the Games began. Fearful of protests, the Chinese government has made it a priority to clear Tibetans out of Beijing in the run up to the Games and have blocked Tibetans from Tibet and those living in exile from traveling to China.

Padma-Dolma has been deported from Beijing, but her exact flight has not been confirmed, however she is expected to arrive into Frankfurt Airport early this morning (after 6am). She plans to stay in Germany for several days, after which she will return to London. She will be available for media interviews in both Germany and the United Kingdom.

Photos and video footage of Padma-Dolma’s action and her full biography are available at: http://freetibet2008.org/globalactions/tibetanprotest/

Tibet groups are planning ongoing protests and events for the duration of the Beijing Games, from Santiago to Montevideo, New York to Toronto, London to Warsaw, Delhi to Brisbane, and many more, to highlight the Chinese government’s use of the Olympics in an attempt to legitimize its rule in Tibet, and to call on the Chinese leadership to meaningfully address the Tibetan cause.

Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) is a network of young people and activists campaigning for Tibetan independence, with 700 chapters in more than thirty countries worldwide. SFT’s international headquarters are in New York, with offices in Toronto, London, and Dharamsala, India.

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Written by ft08editor · Filed Under Press Releases
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