(Minghui.org) Many Falun Gong practitioners are now exercising their legal right to sue Jiang Zemin for launching the persecution of Falun Gong and causing them great harm and tremendous suffering over the past 16 years. The momentum of this new wave of lawsuits against the former Chinese dictator is on the rise.
The Minghui website receives copies of criminal complaints against Jiang from many practitioners daily. In this report, we present a snapshot of some of the practitioners whose copies of lawsuits were received by Minghui on September 10, 2015.
This report features four individuals who were arrested and detained multiple times because of their belief in Falun Gong. Ms. Zhou Yonghua, an economist, was forced to quit her job and went through severe torture when she was pregnant, which led to a miscarriage. Mr. Li Junmin was not allowed to get his doctorate degree and had difficulty finding a job because he upheld his belief. Ms. Ding Yafan and Ms. Zhu Lanxiu both went through seven arrests and years of detention over the past 16 years.
These lawsuits are mailed to the Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate, which are required to process all criminal complaints filed by citizens, as of a recent ruling by the Supreme People's Court.
Brief Recap of the Four Cases Detailed Below
Practitioners in this report began to practice Falun Gong several years before Jiang banned Falun Gong. They benefited greatly from the practice, and so refused to give it up.
Practitioners in this report were repeatedly arrested, had their homes ransacked, were detained, imprisoned, tortured, forced to perform hard unpaid labor for long hours daily, force-fed, and were also deprived of food, sleep and family visits. A student was forced out of a doctoral program.
A pregnant practitioner was tortured, which resulted in a miscarriage. Some practitioners and even a non-practitioner family member were forced to resign from their jobs.
In particular, Ms. Zhou Yonghua, an economist, was forced to resign from her job, as was her husband, a director at an air force meteorologic station, because of the Chinese regime's guilt by association policy -- although he did not practice Falun Gong.
Zhou Yonghua (周永花)
Profession: EconomistHometown: Xintai City, Shandong ProvinceDate filed: July 15, 2015
Key Facts
Ms. Zhou Yonghua, 53 years old, started to practice Falun Gong in 1996. After the persecution began in July 1999, police constantly harassed her at her workplace.
She was forced to quit her job in May 2000. Her husband, who was the director of an air force meteorologic station, was forced to retire from the military because his wife practiced Falun Gong.
Police demanded that Ms. Zhou come to the police station in July 2000, and then detained her for 15 days. Police officers kicked her in the face and extorted 2,000 yuan from her family before they released her. She then went to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong, and was arrested and detained for more than one month.
Ms. Zhou was pregnant when she was arrested in Beijing, but it did not stop police from torturing her. She was forced to kneel on the floor, and more than 10 people grabbed her hands, arms, and legs and pulled her by her hair. They shocked her back, neck and face with electric batons. Police continued to torture her until they were tired. While they took a break, they recharged the electric batons and then continued to torture her.
Ms. Zhou's legs and feet were black and swollen the next day. Doctors and police claimed that the torture method they used on her would permanently disable her. Soon after Ms. Zhou returned home, she had a miscarriage.
Before the Beijing Olympics in July 2008, the police broke into Ms. Zhou's home and arrested her. They cuffed her four limbs together for 48 hours. She was not given any food or drink, nor was she allowed to use the bathroom during these 48 hours. Then, she was interrogated for 72 hours and deprived of sleep.
Ms. Zhou was given an 18-month forced labor camp sentence. She was forced to do hard unpaid labor for up to 18 hours each day and was only allowed a 3-hour rest most of the time. She was deprived of food if she did not denigrate herself. The police also force-fed Ms. Zhou by inserting a thick tube through her nose to her stomach. She was placed in solitary confinement and family visits were denied.
Related Report(s)
Details of complaint in Chinese language
Li Junmin (李军民)
Profession: EngineerHometown: Wuhan City, Hubei ProvinceDate filed: August 1, 2015
Key Facts
Mr. Li Junmin is a 42-year-old engineer, who started to practice Falun Gong in 1996. Mr. Li walked throughout Beijing between July and September 1999, looking for opportunities to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong. He was arrested and escaped multiple times. However, he was detained for over 10 days in September 1999.
He was taken to a brainwashing center, where he and fellow practitioners were pressured to give up their belief. Since he refused, the university where he studied suspended him for six months. Then, he was expelled from the doctorate program.
Despite his excellent academic record, most companies refused to hire Mr. Li because of his belief. After he was hired, he was closely monitored by his workplace. His letters were opened or confiscated from time to time.
Although Mr. Li signed a five-year contract to work for the company, he was dismissed during the third year. The company refused to return Mr. Li's Master's degree certificates and did not refund Mr. Li's more than 40,000 yuan of housing payment.
Details of complaint in Chinese language
Ding Yafan (丁雅范)
Profession: NurseHometown: Yichun City, Jiangxi ProvinceDate filed: July 26, 2015
Key Facts
Ms. Ding Yafan, 65, started to practice Falun Gong in 1996. She appealed for the right to practice Falun Gong after the Chinese Communist regime launched the persecution in July 1999. She was arrested seven times, and detained for a total of two years and eight months.
Ms. Ding was first arrested in December 1999 when she visited a fellow practitioner. She was detained for seven days. When Ms. Ding was on her way to Beijing in March 2000, she was arrested in a railway station because she had Falun Gong books with her. She was detained for a total of 62 days after this arrest.
She went to Beijing in December 2000 and held up a banner on Tiananmen Square calling for an end to the persecution. She was arrested, taken to a police station and then a detention center. She eventually escaped.
Ms. Ding went to Tiananmen Square again to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong on January 28, 2001. Police beat her in public, and she was then given two years of forced labor.
While Ms. Ding was taking care of her daughter's newborn baby in February 2003, police broke in and arrested her. She was detained for 6 months.
She was arrested in July 2008, in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics.
Police harassed Ms. Ding on April 25, 2013, ransacked her home and confiscated a computer and Falun Gong books.
Details of complaint in Chinese language
Zhu Lanxiu (朱兰秀)
Profession: HousewifeHometown: Jinchang City, Gansu ProvinceDate filed: May 28, 2015
Key Facts
Ms. Zhu Lanxiu, 61, started to practice Falun Gong in 1997. She was arrested seven times, and detained for a total of six years.
When she went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong on January 9, 2000 Ms. Zhu was arrested and detained for 15 days.
Soon after her release, Ms. Zhu returned to Beijing. She was arrested and detained for around 50 days. Police dragged her by the hair, and then stomped on her face. During an extremely cold winter day, police poured ice-cold water over her. She and several fellow practitioners were locked into a cell without heat for three days.
Ms. Zhu was arrested at home and taken to a labor camp, where she was forced to do hard labor. Still, she refused to give up her belief. She was then cuffed to a metal bed frame for 15 days. Guards took turns slapping her, and deprived her of food and water for four days. Because Ms. Zhu's health deteriorated, she was given medical parole in July 2001.
She was arrested again and given a total of 11 months detention between 2002 and 2004. Ms. Zhu was sentenced to four years in prison in August 2004.
At the Gansu Province Women's Prison, guards tortured Ms. Zhu with electric batons. She had to perform unpaid labor for over 10 hours daily. Guards forced her to watch videos slandering Falun Gong and demanded that she give up her belief. She refused and thus was deprived of sleep.
Details of complaint in Chinese language
Background
In 1999, Jiang Zemin, as head of the Chinese Communist Party, overrode other Politburo standing committee members and launched the violent suppression of Falun Gong.
The persecution has led to the deaths of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners in the past 16 years. More have been tortured for their belief and even killed for their organs. Jiang Zemin is directly responsible for the inception and continuation of the brutal persecution.
Under his personal direction, the Chinese Communist Party established an extralegal security organ, the “610 Office,” on June 10, 1999. The organization overrides police forces and the judicial system in carrying out Jiang's directive regarding Falun Gong: to ruin their reputations, cut off their financial resources, and destroy them physically.
Chinese law now allows for citizens to be plaintiffs in criminal cases, and many practitioners are exercising that right to file criminal complaints against the former dictator.
