Former Wuhan TV Station Director Zhao Zhizhen Sued in the U.S. for Making Propaganda Films Inciting Hatred, Violence, and Genocide Against Falun Gong

On July the 14th 2004, when Zhao Zhizhen was visiting New Haven, Connecticut, he received a summons issued in a U.S. Federal District Court. Zhao Zhizhen is the former Wuhan TV Station Director and the former Wuhan Radio Station Director in Hubei Province, China. Several Falun Gong practitioners filed a class action lawsuit in Federal Court in New Haven, Connecticut on July the 13th. Zhao Zhizhen is being sued for making propaganda films that incite hatred, violence and genocide against Falun Gong practitioners. This is the first lawsuit of its kind, which argues that the people involved in producing the hate propaganda against Falun Gong should be held responsible for the torture and genocide taking place in China and for hate crimes against Falun Gong practitioners outside China.

According to co-consul for the plaintiffs Dr. Terri Marsh, "The Wuhan Broadcasting and TV Bureau and TV Network Station were given primary responsibility by the former President of the Peoples Republic of China to create a climate of hatred, fear and violence against persons who practice Falun Gong in China and abroad using the same propaganda tactics deployed in Nazi Germany during the Second World War, in Rwanda, during the genocide of the Tutsi by the Hutu, and in China during the Cultural Revolution."

Dr. Marsh added, "In all of these violent massacres, the target is first demonized as having inherently evil qualities, equated with demonic forces, and portrayed as criminals, murderers, and enemies of the state. In China, such tactics, and the media programs of the Defendant, additionally call for the 'transformation' of practitioners [by torture] and/or their extra judicial killing."

According to the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG) (1) under Zhao Zhizhen's direct instruction, the production team of the popular "Scientific Time" TV program of Wuhan went to Changchun City and produced a special film titled "The Story of Li Hongzhi." This film was used by Jiang Zemin to force other Central Government leaders to agree on the persecution of Falun Gong. Then the film began to be played over and over again on CCTV starting from July 22, 1999, three days after the persecution officially began. This film was the only TV propaganda program demonizing Falun Gong in the early stage of the persecution. It is also one of the major tools used to brainwash Chinese people nationwide. Later, this film was played in forced labor camps, prisons, and mental hospitals for brainwashing purposes, and used as an excuse to torture Falun Gong practitioners. After watching the program, many police officers intensified their hatred towards Falun Gong and, as a result, it aggravated the persecution.

Zhao Zhizhen was listed on the WOIPFG monitoring list. After hearing of his travels outside China, the WOIPFG started a "global tracking system," and soon obtained Zhao Zhizhen's travel itinerary.

Notes:

(1) The World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG) is a network composed of many human rights groups and individual volunteers. Its mission is to dynamically monitor the whereabouts of individuals who have severely violated human rights in the persecution of Falun Gong and provide accurate information for justice agencies and victims around the world.