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LONDON (EFGIC) – Six defendants, including two pro-Communist organisations, were served with a summons for a civil lawsuit yesterday for their roles in an assault against practitioners of Falun Gong last year in New York City.
Mr. Guan Liang, the head of the Unified Federation of Chinese Associations, which has close ties to the Chinese consulate, was arrested last year for his leading role in the group assault.
During the assault, which took place June 23, 2003, in Manhattan’s Chinatown, one victim sustained multiple injuries, including a black eye and bloody nose.
Witnesses report that attackers shouted “If you are Falun Gong, I will beat you to death!” As Liang was escorted by police following his subsequent arrest, he paused and addressed reporters, shouting “Evil cult!” – a term commonly used by Jiang Zemin's regime to defame Falun Gong and to justify the five-year bloody persecution of Falun Gong in China.
In 1999, Chinese leader Jiang Zemin ordered the eradication of Falun Gong in China and abroad, and this has manifested through Chinese consulate influence in the form of violence and intimidation in Chinese communities all over the world. (report)
Immediately after Mr. Liang was served with the summons yesterday, he shoved the process server and threw the summons to the ground, according to witnesses. He then ran to a nearby police officer, saying, “This man hit me!” The officer, after questioning the process server, picked up the summons and handed it back to Mr. Liang.
Mr. Steven Wong, of the Lin Ze Xu Foundation, was also served with papers Saturday.
The action was filed against Mr. Liang and Mr. Wong as individuals, as well as their respective organisations. Other defendants served include Mr. Chuen-Hsiung Hua. Videotaped footage of the assault shows Mr. Hua cursing at the plaintiffs, and then shoving a female plaintiff down an escalator.
Assault and Battery
The plaintiffs brought the civil action, filed in the New State Supreme Court, New York County, against the defendants to seek relief for “injuries sustained by plaintiffs arising out of assault and battery, harassment, common law conspiracy, violation of civil rights, intentional infliction of emotional distress,” and others in connection with the violence perpetrated by defendants on the night of June 23, 2003.
“This [civil] action is being brought to stop those who would carry out Jiang Zemin’s directive to ‘eradicate’ Falun Gong around the world,” commented Lana S. Han, the attorney for the plaintiffs. “The crimes Jiang’s regime has perpetrated inside China are horrific and large-scale – we cannot allow them to take place on US soil, as well.”
The defendants have 20 days to respond to the summons. Failing that, the plaintiffs have the right to seek a default judgment against them.
PRESS STATEMENT – July 5, 2004
European Falun Gong Information Centre, www.clearharmony.net
Background
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa (about), is a practise of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the universal principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." Practised in over 50 countries world-wide, Falun Gong has roots in traditional Chinese culture. With government estimates of as many as 100 million practising Falun Gong, China's Communist leader Jiang Zemin outlawed the peaceful practise in July 1999 (report). Since that time, Jiang's regime has intensified its propaganda campaign to turn public opinion against the practise while imprisoning, torturing and even murdering those who practise it. The European Falun Gong Information Centre has verified details of 996 deaths (reports / sources) since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999. In October 2001, however, Government officials inside China reported that the actual death toll was well over 1,600. Expert sources now estimate that figure to be much higher. Hundreds of thousands have been detained, with more than 100,000 being sentenced to forced labour camps, typically without trial.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE EUROPEAN FALUN GONG INFORMATION CENTRE
Peter Jauhal + 44 (0) 7719 508 268 Nicolas Schols +32 47 98 75 734
More contacts. http://www.falungonginfo.net/europe.htm
Email: [email protected]
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