(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Yao Xingying and her daughter Ms. Yuan Chunli from Lianyungan City, Jiangsu Province have initiated legal action against former Chinese dictator Jiang Zemin, who ordered the violent suppression of the spiritual practice, which continues to this day.

They charged Jiang with the crime of depriving citizens of their personal liberty and freedom of religious belief, as granted under the Chinese constitution. They want Jiang to be held responsible for his crimes.

They sent their complaint to the Supreme People's Procuratorate on May 27, 2015 via STO, a mail service that provides a confirmation receipt of delivery.

Receipts for Ms. Yao Xingying's complaint to the Supreme People's Procuratorate

Receipts for Ms. Yuan Chunli's complaint to the Supreme People's Procuratorate

Mother Detained 3 Times

Ms. Yao Xingying, 68, suffered from chronic illnesses, but she regained her health through practicing Falun Gong. After the Chinese Communist Party began persecuting the practice, she remained steadfast in her belief, but her home was ransacked three times. She was also detained three times.

The police broke into her home in April 2001. At the time she suffered severe leg pain and for an entire week, needed assistance to walk. Police sent her to the detention center despite her condition. However, the detention center refused to admit her. Police then took her to another center, where she was detained for 15 days.

Ms. Yao was reported in August 2002 for speaking with people about the persecution of Falun Gong. She was arrested and detained for 15 days.

She was again arrested on September 26, 2012, for handing out Falun Gong informational materials. She was interrogated for an entire night and detained for 15 days.

The constant pressure and harassment caused the family great harm. While Ms. Yao was detained, her 88-year-old parent and two school-aged children were left unattended. Her family was in a state of constant anxiety and under enormous pressure for many years.

Forced Labor for 2 Years

Ms. Yuan Chunli, 42, began practicing Falun Gong after seeing the positive changes in her mother. After improving her moral character and becoming kinder through the practice, she began taking better care of her in-laws, and she enjoyed a happy marriage. However, the persecution of Falun Gong brought great harm to her and her family, and it put her marriage at risk.

She was sent to a forced labor camp for two years at the end of 2000 for distributing Falun Gong informational materials. At that time, her child was only two-and-a-half years old. Moreover, her husband's company pressured him to divorce her, and they threatened to fire him if he refused. Despite the pressure, Ms. Yuan's husband chose to stay with her.

After she returned from the labor camp, the police continued to harass her. Her husband constantly worried that she would be taken away again.

Police officers broke into their home in July 2006 and ransacked it. Her husband and children could only look on helplessly.

Ms. Yuan was arrested again at a railway station on July 20, 2014. She and her family were waiting for a train to Beijing to sign a contract for her husband's overseas job. She was then detained at the Railway Detention Center.

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 many 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 allows citizens to be plaintiffs in criminal cases, and many practitioners are now exercising their right to file criminal complaints against the former dictator.