http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0422protester0422.html

Falun Gong activist charged with crime Disrupted White House event for Hu

Karlyn Barker and Lena H. Sun Washington Post Apr. 22, 2006 12:00 AM

WASHINGTON - The protester who disrupted a White House ceremony for Chinese President Hu Jintao remained defiant Friday, even after prosecutors charged her with a federal crime punishable by up to six months in jail.

"It's not a crime but an act of civil disobedience," Wenyi Wang declared after she emerged from a hearing in U.S. District Court in Washington, drawing cheers from nearly three dozen fellow activists from Falun Gong, a religious sect that is suppressed in China.

Wang, 47, a doctor who lives in New York, got onto the White House lawn Thursday morning as a credentialed journalist for a newspaper associated with Falun Gong. She was arrested by the Secret Service after she began yelling from a media platform. The outburst interrupted Hu's remarks at the ceremony, attended by President Bush and other leaders, and created an embarrassing situation for the White House.

A judge released Wang on personal recognizance Friday and, at the prosecution's request, ordered her to stay away from the White House while awaiting trial.

Thursday's disturbance lasted more than two minutes as Wang unfurled a yellow protest banner and shouted at Hu, and then Bush, in Chinese and English. The Secret Service said that she said things including, "Stop oppressing the Falun Gong," "Your time is running out" and "Anything you have done will come back to you in this lifetime." She also exclaimed: "President Bush, stop him from killing! President Bush, stop him from persecuting Falun Gong!"

Prosecutors maintained that the yelling at Hu was threatening and constituted a crime: willfully intimidating, coercing, threatening and harassing a foreign official. Wang's attorney characterized it as free speech. Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson turned down a defense request to dismiss the case and set a follow-up hearing for May 3.

The White House had issued Wang a one-day press pass to cover the ceremony after she presented credentials as a reporter for the Epoch Times. Many of the newspaper's staff members, like Wang, are Falun Gong practitioners, according to a newspaper spokeswoman.

Falun Gong is a Buddhist-based spiritual movement with millions of members in China and elsewhere. It became the focus of controversy when it was banned by China in 1999 after followers staged peaceful protests in Beijing. Founded by a Chinese soldier in 1992, Falun Gong blends meditation and martial arts.