(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 during 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 August 16-17, 2015.

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 Five Criminal Complaints

Mr. and Mrs. Zhong, a couple, were harassed by police more than 52 times. Officers confiscated money and personal belongings, causing tens of thousands of yuan in financial loss. The two were repeatedly arrested, detained and tortured. Mr. Zhong passed away from torture injuries while on medical parole, and Mrs. Zhong lost sight in one eye.

Mr. Yuan Shengjun, a director at the Jiyuan City Materials Bureau, was sentenced to a three-year prison term. He was beaten and force-fed before he was tortured to death in 2005. His wife has been held for one year and four months and remains in detention.

Mr. Zhang Quande, a former deputy Party Secretary, and his wife Ms. Zhao were frequently harassed by the authorities. They had to leave their home for a period of time to avoid the persecution. Mr. Zhang was arrested upon their return in 2001. Repeated physical and mental torment claimed his life in 2003.

Mr. Luan Ning, a deputy director of human resources, was imprisoned for seven years and held in detention and brainwashing centers multiple times. He lost his job. Long term monitoring and harassment also contributed to his mother's illness and death.

Ms. Deng Xiaobo, a deli shop owner, was detained for 22 months. Her lawyers are prevented from representing her or reviewing her case file. She had to sell her business.

Ms. Zhong Shuhua (钟淑花)

Profession: UnknownHometown: Pingdu City, Shandong PrefectureDate filed: July 8, 2015

Key FactsMr. and Mrs. Zhong were persecuted from the day Jiang Zemin banned Falun Gong. They were threatened and harassed 52 times, imprisoned, and tortured. Mr. Zhong lost his life, and Mrs. Zhong was blinded in one eye.

They were detained in 2001, held in solitary confinement, force-fed, and tortured. For their release, they had to pay a more than 1,000 yuan as a bribe.

Mrs. Zhong was arrested in March 2004, while Mr. Zhong escaped and left home to avoid the persecution. Officers confiscated private belongings valued at more than 5,000 yuan, and took Mrs. Zhong to the 610 Office. Officers twisted a towel into a rope and whipped her eyes, resulting in blindness in one eye.

She was forced to stand at attention for over 10 hours a day for two months. She was also forced to stand in the hot sun and deprived of sleep during over eight months. In November 2004, she was sentenced to three years of forced labor.

Mr. Zhong was again arrested in May 2008, tortured in an “iron chair”, and scalded with hot water. He was shackled inside a metal cage and whipped with metal wires for over an hour.

Because of his injuries, the detention center released him on medical parole. Mr. Zhong was in a hospital for over a month. He died on July 20, 2008.

Related Report(s)Complete Report on the Death of Mr. Zhong Zhenfu Due to Brutal Beating in Pingdu City Detention CenterMr. Zhong Zhenfu Dies from Cruel Beating in Detention

Details of complaint in Chinese language

Mr. Yuan Shengjun (原胜军)

Profession: Head of the Jiyuan City Material BureauHometown: Jiyuan City, Henan ProvinceDate filed: July 7, 2015

Key FactsMr. Yuan's 76-year-old mother Ms. Zhang filed the complaints for the persecution suffered by her son and daughter-in-law.

Mr. Yuan was sentenced to three years in prison in November 2000, brutally beaten, shocked with electric batons, and subjected to brainwashing. He was fired by his workplace.

He was again arrested in March 2005, force-fed during his detention, and denied visits by family. He went on a hunger strike to protest the abuse and was taken to a hospital for force-feeding. He was beaten to death. His body was black and bruised, his eyes were injured, and his fingernails were totally black. His body was cremated by police.

After his death, his mother was monitored by four people for one month. She wanted to appeal on behalf of her son, but received threats.

Mr. Yuan's wife Ms. Wang was detained in a police station for 17 days and put under surveillance for six months. She was later arrested and detained multiples times. In February 2014, she was detained for one year and four months.

Ms. Zhang's grandson's wife could not bear the stress and left, leaving behind her husband and their 2-year-old son.

Related Report(s)Falun Dafa Practitioner Mr. Yuan Shengjun From Henan Province Beaten to Death by PoliceSupplementary Information on the Case of Practitioner Yuan Shengjun, Beaten to Death by Police

Details of complaint in Chinese language

Mr. Zhang Quande (张全德)

Profession: Deputy Party SecretaryHometown: Nanyang City, Henan ProvinceDate filed: July 1, 2015

Key FactsMr. Zhang was arrested in 2001 and tortured. His family members used their influence and paid over 10,000 yuan to gain his release after 64 days. His body was covered with scabies. Officers then harassed him at home.

In January 2003, Mr. Zhang was taken away by officers, who demanded he renounce Falun Gong, which he refused. Officers extorted 2,000 yuan for his release.

He had to be hospitalized at a cost of over 60,000 yuan. He passed away in May 2003.

His wife Ms. Zhao, a Falun Gong practitioner, was also detained several times.

Related Report(s)Former Deputy Party Secretary of the Wolong District Committee in Nanyang City, Henan Province Dies As a Result of Torture

Details of complaint in Chinese language

Mr. Luan Ning (栾凝)

Profession: Deputy human resources directorHometown: Yinchuan City, Ningxia PrefectureDate filed: June 4, 2015

Key FactsMr. Luan was detained three times and imprisoned twice for a total of seven years.

He was sentenced to three years in prison in January 2000. He was fired by the Ningxia Region Human Resources Department and lost his pension. After his release, he was taken to a brainwashing center for over two months.

Officers attempted to arrest him at his place of employment, an advertising company, in 2005. He escaped and became destitute.

Officers ransacked his workplace and his home. They confiscated the company car and caused damage valued at 1,000 yuan.

Mr. Luan was sentenced to four years of imprisonment in 2009. He was tortured, deprived of sleep, hung upside down, and forced to perform slave labor.

His mother could not bear the mental stress and continuous persecution, and passed away on the third day after his trial in 2009.

He and his family are monitored and harassed. The communist regime's guilt-by association-policy implicated his wife's siblings. Police also ransacked his home and destroyed evidence of his abuse.

Current CircumstancesMr. Luan has no stable job or regular income. He lost his retirement benefits and is experiencing financial hardship.

Related Report(s)Mr. Luan Ning from the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Was Again Sentenced to PrisonTwo Practitioners, from Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Hebei Province, Died As a Result of Persecution

Details of complaint in Chinese language

Ms. Deng Xiaobo (邓小波)

Profession: Business ownerHometown: Jilin City, Jilin ProvinceDate filed: August 13, 2015

Key FactsMs. Deng was taken to a forced labor camp twice for a total of two and a half years, where she was tortured.

Her former workplace, a state-owned enterprise fired her and promised compensation that did not materialize.

Ms. Deng opened a deli in 2012, which did well. However officers ransacked her shop and home in October 2013, and took her to a brainwashing center. She was shocked with an electric baton, force-fed, and deprived of sleep. She had to sell her shop at far below market value.

Ms. Deng has been detained for 22 months, but her lawyers have been prevented from legally representating or reviewing her case file since December 2013. The case representative threatened her and her family, many times demanding that she drop the lawyers.

Related Report(s)Jilin Courts Play Delay Tactic in Falun Gong CasesCourts Restrict Human Rights Lawyers' Access to Falun Gong CasesDeli Owner Detained and Beaten

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 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.