Radio Free Asia: A German Human Rights Lawyer Says that the Chicago Trial has Laid the Legal Foundation for Future Trials

Mr. Kaleck, a distinguished German lawyer of international human rights renown, has pointed out that the trial against Jiang Zemin’s group in a Chicago court has laid the legal foundation for trials in the future.

On June the 4th 1989, on TV screens all over the world, the Chinese Government arbitrarily slaughtered college students who called for democracy and had no weapons. After ten years, the leadership of the Chinese government again launched a brutal campaign of persecution against Falun Gong practitioners who adhere to their belief in Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. On the fifteenth anniversary of the 'June 4th incident' and the fifth anniversary of the persecution of Falun Gong, it has drawn international attention around the world that a Chicago court in the U.S.A has begun proceedings of a trial filed by Falun Gong practitioners against Jiang Zemin’s political group .

The lawyer Wolfgang Kaleck, well known for successfully pleading for the German victims persecuted by the Argentinian military dictatorship, represented forty Falun Gong practitioners charging the Jiang group with the persecution of Falun Gong, filed in the German Federal Prosecution Court in November 2003. He cited that the lawsuits against Jiang’s group around the world have a vital significance. Lawyer Kaleck made a particular written statement on this.

In Germany, lots of similar accusations were withdrawn promptly by the German Federal Prosecution Court, but this charge has frequently been reviewed. Lawyer Kaleck indicated that it is a very positive sign.

For this, lawyer Kaleck highly assessed the lawsuits proceeding in several European, American, and Asian countries. He stressed especially that these lawsuits had laid a firm legal foundation of evidence. The persecutors of the Jiang group can neither escape history nor the trials by courts in the future.

This is the summary of a report by RFA special correspondent in Germany, Tian Yi, who interviewed Ms Zheng Zhihong and Mr.Kaleck.