The Russian Government placed “Zhuan Falun,” the main text of the Falun Gong meditation practice, on a list of extremist publications, making the widescale distribution of the book in Russia illegal and punishable by a fine.

The Russian Ministry of Justice published its revised list of extremist books on its Web site on Dec. 23.

In August of 2008, in Pervomaisky Court in Krasnodar, Russia ruled that Zhuan Falun and a list of other publications, which shed light on the persecution and genocide of Falun Gong, were extremist books. This set the stage for the most recent Russian Ministry of Justice ruling.

While an official reason for the addition to the extremists books list has not been given, similar instances of pressure on Falun Gong practitioners in Russia have occurred during the last several years, according to Russian Falun Dafa Association member Sun Lezhi, as Russia inches ever closer in it relationship with the communist regime in China.

“Over the past four years, the Chinese communist regime has been spreading slander about Falun Gong in Russia and exporting its persecution oversees, trying to win Russian government over with economic benefits and trade deals,” said Sun.

“The decision of the Pervomaisky court in Krasnodar and the actions of the Ministry of Justice are illegal and baseless. The main reason for this is direct pressure from the Chinese Communist Party.”

“I think that the court decision and the actions of Ministry of justice turn the principles of good and evil upside down.”

Sun praises the practice as very beneficial for people, helping them to free themselves from addictions and assimilate to universal moral principles.

“Zhuan Falun teaches people how to live according to the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. It tells you that the good will be met with good results and the evil will receive retribution.”

Irina Oshirova has been practicing the meditation practice for over a decade. A St. Petersburg resident, she also praises the book as an excellent moral guide.

“I have been cultivating for about 12 years. From Zhuan Falun I realized a lot of things: Why I have to be compassionate and clean-living in this life, why I can’t lie or steal, why I can’t retaliate when I am hit or sworn at, why I should look within when a conflict happens, and why I shouldn’t criticize others.”

Known as a Chinese traditional cultivation or meditation practice, Falun Gong was openly practiced in the 1990s in China and grew to an estimated 100 million practitioners.

Out of fear and jealousy of its popularity, CCP leader Jiang Zemin ordered a systematic crackdown and launched a global propaganda campaign against the practice in July 1999.

Since then, practitioners inside China have been subjected to widespread and severe human rights violations. According to human rights organizations, a systematic genocide of Falun Gong is taking place in China by the Chinese Communist Party. Hundreds of thousands of practitioners have been locked up in concentration camps and labor camps. They are subjected to severe acts of torture, and some are killed for refusing to give up their beliefs.

As detailed in “Bloody Harvest,” an independent investigative report put out by former Canadian Secretary of State for Asia Pacific David Kilgour and human rights attorney David Matas, CCP authorities have conducted systematic organ harvesting. In this gruesome process, detained Falun Gong practitioners' organs are extracted from their bodies while they are alive, and sold for profit.

“Bloody Harvest” was also added to the list of extremist publications.

While the practice is outlawed in China, Falun Gong is free to practice in over 70 countries around the world, and has been awarded proclamations worldwide.

Attorney Mikhail Sinitsyn is helping Falun Dafa adherents to resolve legal matters concerning the violation of their human rights. Sinitsyn says the court deliberately did not invite practitioners of Falun Gong to participate in the proceedings, because they would have demonstrated the positive influence of Falun Dafa on the spiritual and physical state of practitioners.

“This court hearing violates the rights of Russian practitioners of Falun Dafa for free access to information, and the right to act according to their belief,” Sinitsyn said.