(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners still face a daunting persecution in China. Whether it's for practicing the exercises or speaking to others about the persecution, practitioners face many challenges from authorities at all levels of the Chinese Communist Party.
For example, Ms. Liang Guizhen was tried by the Yishui County Court in Shandong Province on June 15, 2016, for exercising her legal right to file a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin. This was the trial's second session.
During the trial, the practitioner’s lawyer emphasized three points:
1. The DVDs that were found in Ms. Liang's home told people to be good. They were by no means criminal. He suggested that the court play them and see the contents for themselves.
2. Ms. Liang's criminal complaint filed against Jiang Zemin is a citizen's right. Article 41 of the Constitution states that all citizens of the People's Republic of China have the right to appeal, sue, or report the illegal activities of government officials.
3. The police department issued “Positions on Issues Regarding Cult Identification and Elimination” in 2000 and 2005. Falun Gong was not listed in the document, and is thus totally legal. As such, Ms. Liang follows the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance in her daily life and harms no one.
During the trial, Ms. Liang pled not guilty and requested to be released immediately. Her lawyer presented petitions from citizens requesting that Ms. Liang be released. The judge said little throughout the trial before calling for a recess at the end.
In 1999, Jiang Zemin, as head of the Chinese Communist Party, overrode other members of the Politburo Standing Committee and launched the violent suppression of Falun Gong.
The persecution has led to the deaths of many Falun Gong practitioners over the past 17 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 communist regime established an extralegal security organization, 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 its citizens to be plaintiffs in criminal cases, and many practitioners are now exercising that right to file criminal complaints against the former dictator.