(Minghui.org) Mr. Li Lun was tried on July 4 for filing a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin and accusing the former Chinese dictator of initiating the persecution of Falun Gong that resulted in his past detentions.
The Dengta City resident’s lawyer entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf and demanded his acquittal.
The lawyer argued that no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong, that the persecution of the spiritual discipline has been illegal from the outset, and that Mr. Li is within his rights to seek justice against Jiang for infringing upon his freedom of belief.
The lawyer further questioned the validity of the prosecution evidence, which consisted of Falun Gong informational materials confiscated from Mr. Li’s home. The lawyer argued that those items were his client’s lawful possessions and posed no threat or harm to any individual or society at large.
Mr. Li’s family approached the lawyer after the hearing and admitted that they were initially reluctant when other Falun Gong practitioners urged them to seek legal counsel for Mr. Li. They had always thought that Falun Gong was fighting the government, and they loathed Mr. Li for getting them into trouble.
As one family member put it, the lawyer’s defense arguments “made us realize that [Mr. Li] never committed a crime, and it’s his right to sue Jiang Zemin. The people prosecuting him are the ones breaking the law!”
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.