(Minghui.org) A 40-year-old woman spent a quarter of her life in prison because she refused to give up Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime. Ms. Zhou Qiaohang is now suing former Chinese dictator Jiang Zemin for initiating the persecution that resulted in her lost youth.
She mailed her criminal complaint against Jiang on June 21, 2015 to the Supreme Procuratorate and Supreme Court.
Ms. Zhou Qiaohang
Ms. Zhou, a native of Heilongjiang Province, obtained her Master's degree from a prestigious university in Harbin in 2001. But she was disqualified from pursuing a doctorate degree because of her beliefs. As prospective employers feared hiring Falun Gong practitioners for full time positions, she could only do odd jobs to make a living.
She went to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong in June 2000 and was arrested. During her 41 days of detention, she was beaten, hung up and deprived of sleep. She held a hunger strike for 14 days and was force-fed on several occasions.
She was arrested again on her second appeal in Beijing on January 1, 2001 and was beaten again as well.
Her third arrest happened in her home in Harbin in November 2002. She was brutally tortured during interrogation. Seven months later, she was sentenced to ten years and sent to the Heilongjiang Women's Prison.
In the following decade (from age 27 to 37), Ms. Zhou was subjected to various forms of abuse, including brutal beating, solitary confinement and brainwashing. Her family was devastated to see her youth slip away behind bars.
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.
Related Reports:Practitioner Ms. Zhou Qiaohang from Heilongjiang Province Brutally TorturedTwo Practitioners Lose Their Youth Due to Torture
