(Minghui.org) A total of 487 Falun Gong practitioners from Wuhan City, Hubei Province have filed criminal complaints against Jiang Zemin between July 17 and July 23, according to reports compiled by the Minghui website.
The practitioners charge the former Chinese dictator with initiating the brutal suppression of Falun Gong and hold him responsible for the tremendous suffering inflicted upon them by his campaign. The criminal complaints were mailed to the Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate.
Many of these practitioners recounted how Falun Gong returned them to health and gave them a new outlook on life. Their dream to live a healthier and happier life, however, was shattered when Jiang Zemin launched a nationwide campaign to eradicate the practice in 1999.
Simply for refusing to give up their belief, these practitioners were arrested, detained, tortured, and had their homes ransacked and personal belongings seized by the communist authorities. Many also saw their families implicated for their belief, while some were also forced to pay huge fines.
The Wuhan practitioners who filed criminal complaints include people from all walks of life, including senior engineers, government officials, managers, and retired workers.
Below, we profile several of these practitioners:
Ms. Liu Jiacai's (刘家彩) son Mr. Cao Jingyu (曹靖宇) was arrested at the end of March 2003, and was sentenced to 7 years in prison. While he was detained at Sihui Prison in Guangdong Province, he suffered brutal torture and died on September 22, 2013 at the age of 40.
Ms. Wu Xiulan (吴秀兰), 65 years old, was arrested in 2000 for practicing the Falun Gong exercises in the public. She was held in a brainwashing center for six months. During her detention, she was subjected to many tortures involving being shackled in painful positions for up to 24 hours. The authorities also deducted all the expenses related to her stay at the brainwashing center directly from her salary.
Ms. Wu was arrested a second time in October 2002 for appealing for Falun Gong in Tiananmen Square. She was subsequently sentenced to one year in prison.
Ms. Zhu Mingzhu (朱明珠), 80 years old, was held at brainwashing centers a total of 3 times and detained at detention centers twice. Her house was ransacked five times.
In her own words, “Every time I was arrested or had my home ransacked, it was traumatizing to me and my entire family."
Ms. He Jie (何洁), a business manager, was arrested and tortured many times. Even today, there are still visible scars on her face as a result of the torture she experienced. Her husband was unable to endure the pressure and divorced her. In order to avoid further arrests, Ms. He lived away from home for more than 10 years. She also lost an opportunity to work in the U.S. as she couldn't get a visa after the authorities put restrictions on her identification card and passport.
In addition to the above practitioners, the following have also filed criminal complaints:
Mr. Xiao Yongquan (肖永铨), 76, retired senior engineer, and his wifeMs. Guo Shihui (郭诗惠), 76Ms. Liu Haibo (刘海波), government officerMs. Ye Jieru (叶洁如), 38Ms. Zhou Xingzhen (周杏珍), farmer
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 over 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.