LOS ANGELES (AP) - Because of his belief in Falun Gong, Zhaohui Lu said he lost his government job in China and faces jail when he returns.
His wife is already in a labor camp because she passed out fliers promoting the meditation rituals embraced by the sect, he said.
Lu was one of about 1,300 people who turned out Saturday in Los Angeles to protest alleged human rights violations against the sect in China.
The peaceful demonstrations came as Falun Gong officials called for an independent investigation into Chinese government claims that a 25-year-old follower had set himself on fire in Beijing on Friday.
A statement by international Falun Gong leaders read at the protests said they were ``extremely sad and shocked'' by news of Tan Yihui's death but could not verify reports by Chinese state media that he was a member of the meditation sect.
``The Chinese government has long seen the peaceful Falun Gong movement as a threat to its communist ideology and rule,'' said Sherry Zhang, an engineer who lives in Berkeley and practices Falun Gong.
Chinese leaders, worried by Falun Gong's multimillion following and its ability to mobilize protests, banned the group in July 1999. The government claims the group is an evil cult that has led nearly 1,700 followers to their deaths, mostly by encouraging spiritual healing over modern medicine.
Last month, a purported follower was killed and four others were seriously burned when they set themselves ablaze on Tiananmen Square in a radical departure from what had largely been a campaign of peaceful protests and civil disobedience by Falun Gong members against the government's ban on the group.
Lu said followers live in fear in China. ``The police may arrest you at any time,'' he said. ``My wife is still in prison for trying to pass out fliers about the truth. They won't permit me to talk to her.''
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.