Three Chinese members of the Falungong movement who live in France and who were detained while visiting relatives in China have been allowed to leave the country, a support group announced here Thursday.
"We were able to speak to them and they said that they had been given authorization to leave China," Vincent Lamande, a member of the support group said. "They are expected back in France on September 10."
The trio, a couple and their teenage daughter, were seized in a raid on August 7 while visiting family in north China's inner Mongolia region.
The spiritual group identified the family as Jian Chi, a researcher in the southeastern French city of Grenoble, his wife Fenglong Sun and their 15-year-old daughter Yifan Chi, all of whom are French residents.
The Chinese government has a previous record of detaining overseas nationals or residents when they go to China to visit relatives, the Falungong information center said.
Human rights groups estimate that hundreds of Falungong followers have been sentenced to jail terms and tens of thousands sent to labour camps, while more than 100 are reported to have died in police detention -- GRENOBLE, France (AFP)
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