Lawsuit against Germany's Federal Department of Domestic Affairs for Violating Practitioners' Basic Rights Is Favourably Resolved

Clearwisdom correspondents Su Jing and Zheng Yan report: At noon on April 26, 2004, a Berlin Administrative Court judge, representatives of the German Federal Department of Domestic Affairs and German Falun Dafa Association representatives officially reached an agreement after discussion, so that the German Falun Dafa Association's lawsuit against the Federal Department of Domestic Affairs for violating the practitioners' rights could be resolved.

Three German Falun Dafa Association representatives participating in the discussion

Origin and goal of the case

In April 2003, the German Falun Dafa Association and several Falun Gong practitioners of different nationalities living in Germany submitted four complaints respectively to the Berlin Administrative Court and administrative courts in other places regarding the federal police's actions. The lawsuits were against the German Federal Department of Domestic Affairs, Brandenburg, Niedersachens and Sachsen authorities. The lawsuit stemmed from events that took place during Jiang Zemin's state visit to Germany in 2002, when Falun Gong practitioners' basic human rights were infringed upon by German Federal police and Berlin police. All cities in which the defendants live were where Jiang had exerted influence. The verdict this morning was about the lawsuit against the German Federal Department of Domestic Affairs.

On April 3, 2003, a representative of German Falun Gong practitioners stated at a press conference: "The dignity of humankind and justice are factors that constitute a normal society. However, these were violated when the government invited this state guest. We hope that through discussions and the lawsuit over these events, we can achieve the goal of clarifying the truth, and prevent such acts from happening again."

Judge makes a proposal and presides over the meeting

On April 26, 2004, from 10:00AM to 1:00AM (German Time), representatives of the Federal Department of Domestic Affairs and German Falun Dafa Association representative Wu Wenxin had a meeting at Berlin's Administrative Court which was presided over by a judge.

The judge proposed to resolve the dispute through an agreement regarding the case of the German Falun Dafa Association's lawsuit against Federal Department of Domestic Affairs for violation of human rights.

Judge states that German police's behaviour during Jiang's visit to Germany violated Germany's Basic Law

The judge told the two parties that he thought the German police's behaviour violated the Basic Law; especially, forcing Falun Gong practitioners out of their hotel rooms infringed upon the basic rights protected by the country's law. The right to stay in a hotel is no different than the right to stay in one's own home.

The judge also pointed out that Falun Gong has been appealing in a peaceful manner. To his knowledge, Falun Gong practitioners have never used violence against anyone.

The Representative of the Department of Domestic Affairs claimed that Falun Gong practitioners shouted statements at that time that "insulted the visiting state president."

The judge said that according to his research, he affirmed that the banners Falun Gong practitioners used did not have any content that is not allowed by freedom of speech, which is protected by the country's laws.

Both parties reach an agreement and come to a conclusion

Presided over by the judge, the two parties reached an agreement to the abovementioned points, and officially confirmed that they agreed with the contents of the agreement.

At the end of the agreement, the Falun Gong side expressed their understanding of the German Department of Domestic Affairs' special precautionary measures during the visit of foreign state sovereigns.

Three lawsuits provoked by Jiang in Europe ended up with defendants being found guilty

This is the third time that Jiang's visit has provoked the need for a lawsuit, which has had a strong impact on the police in Europe. The two previous lawsuits were filed because he was afraid of seeing protesters and infringed upon people's rights through the actions of local police, drawing indignation from the local people, the media and government officials. The lawsuit in 1995 with Amnesty International as the plaintiffs, and the lawsuit in 1999 which involved several organisations, ended with rulings in favour of the plaintiffs. The United Kingdom police apologised publicly to the plaintiffs. The Bavaria Administrative Court in Germany pointed out in their judgement, "No political or economical interests shall be above the Constitution."