Judge Finds Ding Guangen Guilty in Case Similar to Jiang Lawsuit

On May 15, 2003, Ding Guangen, the Propaganda Minister of China and also the vice head of the "610 Office" (an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems) was served with a class action lawsuit. The complaint was filed in the local court of Hawaii. The basis of the complaint was the Alien Tort Claim Act (28 U.S.C. ?1350) and the Torture Victims Protection Act (106 Stat. 73 (1992)). On November 13, 2002, the plaintiffs submitted a motion of judgement by default, requesting the court rule that the "610 Office," the Department of Propaganda and Ding Guangen be held responsible for all the indictments. On May 13, 2003, the judge approved the motion of the plaintiffs and found that Ding Guangen was guilty of the crimes listed in the complaint. The Ding case is a civil lawsuit. According to their lawyer, Falun Gong practitioners did not intend to go after Ding Guangen any further, nor did they intend to seek economic compensation.

On October 18, 2002, individual Falun Gong practitioners filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court of the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division against Jiang Zemin, then President of China, and the "610 Office." Jiang is charged with the crime of genocide against Falun Gong practitioners.

The causes of the action pleaded in the complaint in the two cases are very similar, and they include torture, genocide, denial of the right to life, denial of the rights to liberty and security of the person, denial of the right to be free from arbitrary arrest and imprisonment, denial of the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and denial of the right to the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to associate freely.

Both cases charge the Ministry of Propaganda, the "610 Office" and Jiang Zemin with distorting the principles and teachings of Falun Gong, slandering the founder of Falun Gong and its practitioners, fanning hatred toward Falun Gong, and violating human rights.

The Jiang case further accuses Jiang Zemin of instituting a systematic policy to "eradicate Falun Gong" and setting up the "610 Office" to carry out his orders. They arrest, detain, beat, torture and even kill Falun Gong practitioners at will, attempting defame, bankrupt and physically destroy the practitioners. If practitioners were beaten to death, they would be counted as having committed suicide. There is no law that can protect Falun Gong practitioners. The intention is to force practitioners to give up their belief and cultivation in Dafa. The "610 Office" has played a key role in carrying out Jiang's orders.

Both cases consider Jiang Zemin the chief planner of the systematic persecution of Falun Gong. In the lawsuit filed on October 18, 2002, Jiang was formally sued as the defendant, on the charge of having designed, ordered, implemented and directed a program of eliminating the practise of Falun Gong in China.

In the Ding case, the verdict is symbolic, yet in the Jiang case, the plaintiffs are seeking to hold the "610 Office" and Jiang Zemin accountable for a wider range of responsibilities, and to ask for compensatory and punitive damages for torts committed by the defendants.

On December 21, 2001, Judge J. Cote of the United States District Court of the Southern District of New York ordered, judged, and decreed that the plaintiff have judgement against the Defendant Zhao Zhifei, head of the Public Security Office of Hubei Province in China. The lawsuit was brought up in July 2001 by Peng Liang (a Falun Gong practitioner in Hubei Province) through power of attorney to Falun Gong practitioners in the United States. The complaint charged the Defendant with murder of Falun Gong practitioners and violation of the Torture Victims Protection Act (106 Stat. 73 (1992)). The verdict may become a barrier for the defendant to visit the US in the future.

While still in office, Jiang abused his power and promoted his son, Jiang Mianheng, who once studied in the US, to be the vice-director of the Chinese Academy of Science. Jiang Mianheng made enormous profits in the telecommunication industry, stole national resources, and has become the number one corrupt official in China. Jiang Zemin has committed some major crimes, such as ruining the economy, spreading lies, developing policies to eradicate Falun Gong, etc. It has been known among high-ranking Chinese officials that Jiang Zemin has long prepared a way of escape to the US using his son's money.

It has been learned that the Ding case went rather smoothly, yet the Jiang case has met with severe interference and resistance. Jiang Zemin claimed that he will use all diplomatic means to stop this lawsuit, at whatever price.