B.C. protesters glad to be home after 36-hour detention in China
Last Updated: Friday, August 10, 2007 | 7:59 AM PT
CBC News
Two protesters arrested in China earlier this week received a hero's welcome at Vancouver International Airport Thursday afternoon.
Yvon Raoul welcomes his daughter, Melanie, back to Vancouver after she was detained in China.
(Doris Sun/CBC)
Melanie Raoul and Sam Price were among eight protesters who unfurled a 42-square-metre banner reading "One World, One Dream, Free Tibet 2008" in English and Chinese from the Great Wall.
Raoul and Prince, both from Vancouver, were arrested Tuesday, then deported from China after their release on Wednesday and flown to Hong Kong.
"We were told to sit in their chairs," Raoul recalled of the pair's arrest and 36-hour detention by Chinese authorities.
"We would have 15- or 20-minute spurts of sleep where we just put our head on the table. At that point, police authority would take us in for questioning," she told CBC News.
"It'll take a long time to process," Price added. "But I'm very excited to be home — very happy!"
Sam Price, seen here with mother Caroline, said on Thursday he's happy to be home.
(Doris Sun/CBC)
Raoul's parents said they were very worried after reading the news that their daughter had been detained in China.
"I prefer if she doesn't do it again for a while," Yvon Raoul said. "I want to keep my kids close."
Despite their parents' worries, the two activists said they would do it again in a heartbeat. However, they've got no plans to return to China anytime soon.
The group they belong to, Students for a Free Tibet, timed its demonstration to coincide with one-year countdown celebrations of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.
Another protester, Lhadon Tethong, 31, was also arrested Wednesday. The Victoria-born activist was not directly involved in the Great Wall protest, but spent her time in China writing a blog, and posting videos and photos online about what the group calls China's "propaganda campaign" leading up to next year's Olympic Games.
Tethong, the group's executive director now living in New York, was due to arrive in Toronto Thursday evening.
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