United States: Federal Judge Denies Immunity Plea for Chinese Government Officials

Chinese newspaper World Journal July 3 report: Magistrate Edward M. Chen, a San Francisco judge, recently denied foreign sovereign immunity to former Beijing Mayor Liu Qi and other Chinese government officials. These Chinese government officials were sued in the U.S. court for the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Regarding this, Falun Gong practitioners in San Francisco said that in China it's impossible for ordinary citizens to sue government officials, and it's even more difficult for Falun Gong practitioners to sue high-level Chinese government officials.

Falun Gong practitioner Dr. Sherry Zhang said, "Everyone is equal before the law; no one can stand above the law, but in Mainland China, many civil lawsuits filed by ordinary citizens against corrupt government officials were unsuccessful. Only in the U.S. can Falun Gong practitioners charge Chinese government officials with mistreating Falun Gong practitioners. We welcome Judge Chen's decision. It's great."

Recently, practitioners Mr. Bian Xuzhuang and his wife Ms. Shen Shumin who had just come to the U.S. from Beijing said because they refused the police's demand that they don't go to Tiananmen Square during the 2001 Chinese New Year, and more than 20 officials from the local police department, street committee, community office and their work units surrounded their home. The police broke the window to their bedroom with bricks, "our bedroom immediately became a freezer. We were surrounded and trapped for seven days and nights in hunger and cold weather, in addition to facing possible arrest at any time."

Bian Xuzhuang said, "We were monitored, abducted and detained by police in China. Our residence was vandalised." "As persecuted Falun Gong practitioners in Beijing, we can serve as witnesses that Beijing's former mayor Liu Qi cannot escape his responsibilities in the crimes of persecution against Falun Gong practitioners."