Five set themselves on fire in China's Tiananmen Square

Onlookers watch smoke rise from Tiananmen Square after five people set themselves on fire Tuesday

Falun Gong: Protesters were not members

In this story: Police detain crew A 'one-sided media campaign' Tensions ratcheted up Police clear square RELATED STORIES, SITES

BEIJING (CNN) -- Five people who set themselves on fire Tuesday in China's Tiananmen Square were not members of the Falun Gong movement, as the Chinese authorities allege, a spokeswoman for the movement said.

Police reported that one person died and four were injured in the act of self-immolation, which CNN captured on a tape later confiscated by Chinese police.

"This is not Falun Gong practitioners," Gail Rachlin, a Falun Gong spokeswoman, told CNN. "It is against our beliefs to kill ourselves or anyone else."

State media have accused followers of committing suicide at the instigation of sect leader Li Hongzhi.

VIDEO CNN's Rebecca MacKinnon shows Wednesday's arrests and explains Tuesday's self-immolation Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Video of the scene, from CNN's Rebecca MacKinnon Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)    GALLERY Falun Gong image gallery    MESSAGE BOARD Share your thoughts on today's events in China    ALSO What is Falun Gong?

Police detain crew

The events Tuesday were nonetheless dramatic and disturbing.

A CNN producer and camera operator were at Tiananmen Square on the Chinese New Years' eve, a place where Falun Gong members have previously protested at the beginning of the Lunar New Year.

The crew watched as a man sat down on the pavement just northeast of the Peoples' Heroes Monument at the center of the square. After pouring gasoline on his clothes he set himself on fire.

Police ran to the man and extinguished the flames. Moments later four more people immolated themselves as military police detained the CNN crew, which had been taping the events.

As flames spread through their clothing the four raised their hands above their heads and staggered about. One of the four, a man, was detained and driven away in a police van. He appeared to have serious burns on his face, and CNN producer Lisa Weaver said she could smell burning flesh as the van slowly passed.

The four remaining bodies lay on the pavement after authorities put out the flames. One of the four was seen to wave a hand as portable screens were erected to shield the bodies from view.

Two ambulances arrived to retrieve the bodies nearly 25 minutes later.

A 'one-sided media campaign'

Rachlin said the report that the five were members of Falun Gong is part of an effort against the group by the Chinese government. "Don't you see what the PRC (People's Republic of China) is doing? They're trying to get into the media, which is what they said they would try to do. This is a one-sided media campaign and they're trying to engage others, like CNN," Rachlin said.

She said more than 120 Falun Gong protesters have been tortured to death in police custody but authorities have reported only a handful of these deaths. "They (the Chinese government) said that they committed suicide or had heart attacks," she said.

The group drew millions of followers in the 1990s, preaching a mix of slow-motion exercises and eclectic ideas that followers say promote health and good citizenship. The government outlawed the group in July 1999, accusing founder Li Hongzhi, who now lives in New York, of deceiving practitioners and causing the death of 1,600 followers.

Tensions ratcheted up

Falun Gong has stepped up demonstrations in recent weeks and issued warnings by founder Li of more vigorous action to protest the government crackdown.

The government has fought back by intensifying vilification of the sect in state-controlled media and encouraged a nationwide campaign to collect a million signatures in support of the ban.

The campaign is the government's first effort to make people publicly support the ban and is reminiscent of communist political movements -- from the 1950-53 Korean War to the radical Cultural Revolution in the 1960s.

"It's a way of forcing people to be a bit up front," said Gerry Groot of Adelaide University in Australia. "This is real classic 1950s tactics. That's exactly what they did during the Korean War to try to undermine the Americans."

The government's efforts have accelerated with the approach of Wednesday's lunar new year, China's biggest holiday. Expecting the same mass protests that occurred during celebrations last year, police checked people entering the square, patting many down and inspecting their bags.

Police clear square

The suicide attempt brought even tighter security, which blocked all but a few dozen revelers from gathering on the square to welcome the Year of the Snake. As firecrackers crackled around Beijing after midnight, police cleared even them from the square.

Police issued to the CNN crew a statement saying that one person had died and four were injured. It said all were members of Falun Gong. The police statement said another person had been detained on the scene with two flasks of gasoline. According to the statement, the Falun Gong followers had burned themselves under the direction of Li, leader of the "evil cult."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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