(Clearwisdom.net) The lawsuit against Les Presses Chinoises newspaper for libel and inciting hatred resumed in February with the last session from the 23rd to the 25th of that month.
No matter what the result of the court judgments, the actions of some overseas media organizations in cooperating with Jiang Zemin's regime to incite hatred against Falun Gong in the community of overseas Chinese are more far-reaching than the scope of this case itself. Those who suffer from the results of the defamation are not only Falun Gong practitioners, but also all of the other readers that were mislead by the lies.
Les Presses Chinoises published an article on November 3, 2001, and used extremely obscene and dirty language and lies to defame Falun Gong. Afterward, the newspaper refused to respond to the concerns raised by practitioners and continued to publish dozens of articles defaming and inciting hatred against Falun Gong. Most of the misinformation they published is exactly the same as that used by Jiang's regime to defame Falun Gong in China. On February 2, 2002, during the period when a safeguard order was in effect, Les Presses Chinoises published a 12-page special edition, in which the head of the newspaper wrote an article calling for society to "denounce" Falun Gong.
The groundless hatred incited by these lies harms the readers as well as the practitioners who were directly defamed. Those who are standing in the plaintiff's position should not only be Falun Gong practitioners, but also include all the Chinese people who were deceived by the Chinese government propaganda published by the defendant.
In Washington DC, there is a real estate businesswoman who has been very sympathetic to Falun Gong, but she wasn't sure if the persecution was as severe as Falun Gong practitioners said it was. When New Tang Dynasty (NTD) TV Station, a New York City based independent media outlet, planned its "Global Chinese New Year Gala" in Washington DC, the businesswoman planned to buy 30 tickets to give to her employees to thank them for their hard work. This should have been a good thing. Unexpectedly, some employees from Mainland China refused to accept the tickets. They seemed terrified. It seemed inconceivable, but the reason was very simple: NTD TV Station mentioned in their advertisement that some famous artists among Falun Gong practitioners were invited to participate in the gala.
As a result of this situation that the woman finally understood that the persecution by Jiang Zemin's regime of Falun Gong has seized every opportunity and she started to believe how severe the persecution was.
One of the most significant ways for Jiang's regime to instill such fear about Falun Gong is that many media inside and outside China, including Les Presses Chinoises, cater to Jiang Zemin's regime and wantonly slander and defame Falun Gong and incite hatred in Chinese people's minds. The damage caused is difficult to erase, and causes serious injury in these people's minds and spirits.
For many Chinese people that have lived in Mainland China, the defamation by media such as Les Presses Chinoises have another misleading effect in that most Chinese readers will interpret in such reports as an extension of Jiang's crackdown overseas. To protect their families and their other self-interests, many Chinese people dare not to stand up and speak out on behalf of Falun Gong and hence tolerate the persecution. This ultimately results in the continuation of the persecution causing more Falun Gong practitioners to suffer, and even brings about their deaths.
At the time when the grand truth is revealed, these people will feel regret for their non-action in the face of this huge persecution of humanity. From the perspective of conscience, the injuries that they receive are far more serious than those on Falun Gong practitioners. They are the genuine victims. They should stand together with Falun Gong practitioner in today's position as the plaintiffs!
Written by Minghui reporter Ouyang Fei
