February 09, 2002

SALT LAKE CITY: The mayor of Beijing, Liu Qi, has been slapped with a lawsuit by six Falungong members claiming they were physically abused during a protest in the Chinese capital, a spokeswoman for the spiritual group said Friday.

The papers, handed down by a US district court, were served to Liu on Thursday at San Francisco airport shortly before he boarded a flight to Salt Lake City, said Sherry Zhang of the Falun Dafa Information Centre in northern California.

Liu, who is also president of the Beijing Organizing Committee of the 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG), was thought to have attended Friday evening's opening ceremony of the 19th Winter Olympics in the Utah state capital.

Zhang said the civil lawsuit was filed against Liu by six Falun Gong members from Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Sweden and the United States.

The papers charged Liu with "torture, cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment, arbitrary detention, crimes against humanity and interference with freedom of religion and belief", Zhang said.

It was not clear what the legal implications of the lawsuit were. Neither Liu nor any other members of the Chinese delegation could be immediately contacted to verify the claim.

However, the Torture Victims Protection Act and the Alien Tort Claims Act gives US courts jurisdiction over acts of torture committed outside the country. But a suit can only proceed if defendants are served with legal papers while in the United States.

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