Beijing: Ethnic Park Protest

Beijing: Ethnic Park Protest - Aug. 13, 2008

Five
Tibet activists blockaded the front entrance of the Chinese Ethnic
Culture Park, at the south end of the Olympic Park, at 12:30pm today.
The five were behind locked bicycles across the entrance to the park,
which prominently features an exhibit of Tibetan culture. They wore
t-shirts reading “Free Tibet” and held a banner reading “Tibetans Are
Dying for Freedom.” A sixth activist, a Tibetan-Japanese woman, made a
statement about what they were doing and the situation on the ground in
Tibet.

Nearby, two other activists unfurled a banner over a pedestrian bridge, which read “Free Tibet.”

The
two activists at the bridge were immediately detained by security
officials. The six outside the park were detained after approximately
five minutes. The activists are: Pema Yoko, 25, a Tibetan-Japanese
woman resident in the UK; Americans Tom Cohen, 41; Martin Thomas, 36;
Jennifer Kirby, 30; Jene DeSpain, 31; James Brady, 41; Bani Campozano,
20; and Jonathan Fox, 29, an Israeli-American. Their present
whereabouts are unknown.