Spain: Falun Dafa Association Holds Press Conference to Introduce the Lawsuit Against Jia Qinglin

At 12pm on September the 7th 2004, the Spanish Falun Dafa Association held a press conference to announce Dafa practitioners’ lawsuit against Jia Qinglin. Lawyer Carlos Iglesias filed the lawsuit on behalf of the practitioners, charging Jia for his grave crimes against humanity committed during the brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in Mainland China while he was Communist Party Secretary General of Beijing (highest official of the city) from 1999 to 2002. Mr. Iglesias and other practitioners introduced Jia’s crimes in detail to the media.

In his a speech, a representative of the practitioners said, “During Jia’s tenure as Communist Party Secretary General of Beijing from 1999 to 2002, it was the darkest time for practitioners during the persecution. Innumerable atrocities were committed against Falun Gong practitioners, with many cases of death due to torture. Zhao Xin, a professor of the University of Commerce and Industry of Beijing, Wang Lixuan and her 8-month-old son were tortured to death during this period. Moreover, the staged tragedy-“Tiananmen Self-immolation” case also happened in this period. This well-planned plot was very destructive to Falun Gong’s reputation and successfully instigated people’s hatred toward practitioners. Practitioners’ situation consequently deteriorated further as the persecution escalated after this case. Moreover, the persecution was not limited to Beijing practitioners only. Practitioners from other areas were also severely persecuted in Beijing. A least 830,000 practitioners who went to Beijing to appeal were illegally arrested and detained in Beijing or sent back to their hometown for further detention and torture. Many practitioners were persecuted to death. Jia, as then Party Secretary General of Beijing, is directly responsible for the crime.”

The lawyer Mr. Iglesias said, “Based on the crimes Jia committed against practitioners during his tenure as head of Beijing, on behalf of practitioners, I filed a lawsuit to the National Spanish Court system against him for Genocide and the Crime of Torture because Spanish law authorizes judges to rule over cases of international genocide. Moreover, Jia Qinglin can’t allege immunity. In the face of genocide, it is not possible to argue diplomatic immunity; Considering the barbaric nature of the torture and murder of innocent people, these acts can’t have been committed as part of official duties, rather they were exclusively done as personal acts, which were completely illegal and a blatant violation of the Chinese constitution itself and the internal laws of China.”

At the end of the press conference, practitioners called upon the international community to pay attention to the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong in China and called on all kind-hearted people to help end this persecution.

Several renowned Spanish media organisations such as Europa Press and National TV, as well as Reuters, attended the press conference. Europa Press and Reuters reported the lawsuit against Jia on the same afternoon.