(Minghui.org) A total of 195 Falun Gong practitioners from Suihua City, Shandong Province and over 40 from Huadu District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province have filed criminal complaints against Jiang Zemin between May and August, 2015, 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, they were arrested, detained, tortured, and had their homes ransacked and personal belongings seized. Many also saw their families implicated for their belief, while some were also forced to pay huge fines.

Chef Beaten in Detention

Mr. Rong Licheng (荣立成), 42, is a chef and a nutritionist from Suihua. He was arrested during the 2008 Beijing Olymics Games, injected with unknown drugs, and forced to do labor for more than fourteen hours a day during detention.

He was later given one year in a forced labor camp, where he was once forced to sit in an “iron chair” for five days continuously and was beaten at the same time.

Mr. Rong was arrested again in July 2014 and detained for a month. The police also impounded the car he borrowed from his friend and refused to return it upon his release.

Couple Each Given Two Years of Forced Labor

Ms. Zhao Wei (赵伟), 50, is a teacher from Guangzhou. Her home was ransacked four times. Both she and her husband Li Lianyu were arrested multiple times. The police sent her to a brainwashing center in March 2003, while her husband was held in a labor camp. Their family business and child were left with no one to care for them.

She was arrested again in May 2007 and given two years of forced labor. She had to work more than ten hours daily in the labor camp and was forced to sit on a “small stool” for extended periods of time.

Her husband was held in a labor camp for two years. Upon his release, he had lost his courage to continue to practice Falun Gong. Even though he became healthy after he first started practicing, due to long-term detention, stress, and fear, he passed away after his illness relapsed.

Government Official Sent to Brainwashing Center

Ms. Qiao Guangqing (乔光清), 56, is a government official from Guangzhou. He was sent to a brainwashing center for six months in 2000. Later, he was given two forced labor terms in October, 2003 and April, 2007 for 21 months and 24 months, respectively.

During his detention, he was subjected to long-term sleep deprivation and forced to watch propaganda videos demonizing Falun Gong. His workplace also stripped him of the fringe benefits available to government officials.

Woman Beaten, Denied Food and Water

Ms. Huang Tengwen (黄腾文), 39, was arrested on several occasions. In particular, she was seized in January 2001 while appealing in Beijing for the right to practice Falun Gong.

For refusing to disclose her name and address, she was immobilized on a bed and denied food and water. Guards later hung her up and punched her in the stomach. She was not let down until she was swollen all over and became incoherent.

She was later given one and a half years of forced labor.

Widespread Abuse in Detention Centers and Labor Camps

Ms. Ren Xinqin (任兴芹), 72, is a resident of Suihua. Her whole family practices Falun Gong. However, her second eldest son and third eldest daughter were persecuted to death. Ms. Ren is suing Jiang for the deaths of her children.

Mr. Liu Zhulin (刘竹林), 72, is a retired engineer from Suihua. He was arrested twice when he went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong at the end of 2000. He was brutally beaten and pricked with needles in the detention center.

Ms. Huang Shujun (黄舒君), 38, was given two years of forced labor following her arrest in October 2000 for distributing Falun Gong materials. She was forced to watch or read propaganda against Falun Gong, deprived of sleep, and denied family visitations. She learned upon her release that her mother was traumatized by her incarceration and had became withdrawn.

Ms. Zhu Xiaoying (朱小英), 40, also spent one and half years in a labor camp, where she was forced to work for more than 10 hours every day.

Mr. Tang Zhiheng (汤志衡), 38, used to be a general manager of a leather factory in Huadu District, Guangzhou City. He is suing Jiang Zemin for his nearly seven years of incarceration in various facilities.

Ms. Wang Xia (王霞), 59, was an employee from Division 293 of the Huadu District Nuclear Plant in Guangzhou City. She holds Jiang responsible for her numerous arrests during the past 16 years.

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