Austria: Press Conference Regarding the Charges Filed against Jia Qinglin in Vienna

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On Monday August the 30th 2004, charges were filed with the State Prosecutor’s Office in Vienna against Jia Qinglin, who was visiting Austria, because of his crimes related to the persecution of Falun Gong in the People’s Republic of China. The organisations responsible for filing the lawsuit are the Austrian Falun Dafa Association, human rights organisations the International Society for Human Rights (IGFM) and the Society for Threatened People, and numerous individual victims.

Jia Qinglin is a close confidant of former head of state Jiang Zemin and instigator of the persecution. Politically, Jia supports Jiang’s anti-Falun Gong policies. When Jiang’s regime prohibited Falun Gong in 1999, Jia Qinglin supported the policy. He often demands support for the fight against Falun Gong from members of the Communist Party of China during meetings, has repeatedly stressed the importance of the suppression of Falun Gong, and takes every opportunity to attack Falun Gong.

The press conference was jointly held on August 31st by the IGFM and the Falun Dafa Information Centre in Vienna and discussed this lawsuit. It provided a detailed analysis of the role Jia played in the persecution of Falun Gong within the area under his administration in Beijing. Special emphasis was placed on the fates of Zhao Ming, who was rescued from the hellish Tuanhe labour camp in Beijing, and of a new mother, Wang Lixuan, and her eight-month-old son who were both tortured to death while being detained in the same labour camp.

In addition, the spread of the persecution beyond Chinese borders was discussed: A Chinese gentleman residing in Austria was refused the extension of his passport in order to force him to return to his hometown Beijing, where he would most likely be sent to a forced labour camp and tortured. The Falun Dafa Information Centre in Austria explained why the charges were brought against Jia as follows: “Since it is not possible to demand justice for the crimes committed in his own country, we feel that it is our moral and legal obligation to bring criminals like Jia Qinglin to justice elsewhere.”


Originally published in German at http://de.clearharmony.net/articles/200409/19130.html

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