Radio France Internationale Reports on Falun Gong Lawsuits Against Senior Chinese Officials

1. French Judge Requests China to Investigate Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners

The following was broadcast in Mandarin by Radio France Internationale on the evening of December the 15th to Mainland China and Mandarin-speaking areas of Paris:

On the afternoon of December the 16th, the French Association of Falun Gong will hold a press conference in renowned human rights lawyer William Bourdon's office to expose the Chinese Communist regime's persecution of Falun Gong. The press conference will in particular charge former head of the 610 Office and Vice-Premier Li Lanqing with instigating gangsters to mistreat French Falun Gong practitioner Hélène Petit and others. The association will also enumerate the appalling crimes of the regime which has tortured thousands of practitioners to death.

Mr. Zhang Jianping, spokesman for the Association, told the reporter: "Facing the Chinese Communist regime's brutal persecution, practitioners in many countries have made significant progress in working for practitioners' human rights. As it is the French judiciary system sending an International Rogatory Letter to its counterpart in China, requesting an investigation and explanation on the abuses of French practitioner Hélène Petit and many other practitioners, we feel this shows substantial progress because an objective judiciary investigation of this kind would be impossible in China, where the media and Justice System and all other organs are controlled by the Chinese Communist Party."

"Moreover, we feel that this progress tells us that our persistent effort in seeking judiciary justice in the past years have started to see concrete results. For example, the former Minister of Education Chen Zhili was recently summoned to a Tanzania court for instigating hatred against Falun Gong in the Chinese Educational System; In November, Party Secretary of Gansu Province Su Rong was barred from leaving Zambia and crossed the Zambian border illegally and then flew back to China; Most recently, an Australian court has issued a summons to Jiang Zemin asking Jiang to appear in court."

2. Paris Court Accepts Practitioners' Complaints Against Senior Chinese Officials

The following was broadcast in Mandarin by Radio France Internationale on the evening of December the 17th to Mainland China and Mandarin-speaking areas of Paris:

Paris lawyer Bourdon yesterday announced that the lawsuits filed by two Falun Gong practitioners against two Chinese senior officials have been accepted by the Paris Civil Court. The court has issued a request to its Chinese counterpart asking for judiciary collaboration.

In December 2002 [and January 2004], two Falun Gong practitioners filed lawsuits in the Paris Civil Court charging former Chinese Vice-Premier Li Lanqing and current Minister of Culture Sun Jiazheng for crimes of torture and conspiracy in the persecution of Falun Gong. France signed the International Act against Torture in 1984, and victims thus can sue foreign suspects of torture in France.

A lawyer for the practitioners yesterday held a press conference at his office in the 1st District of Paris and announced that the Paris Civil Court had requested that the Chinese Authorities collaborate in an investigation of the charges.