French Court Requests China to Investigate the Defendant’s Role in the Persecution of Falun Gong

Recently the international collaborative legal effort by French Falun Gong practitioners against senior Chinese Communist Party officials who are actively involved in the persecution of Falun Gong made significant progress.

In December 2002, French human rights lawyer William Bourdon and Belgian human rights lawyer Georges-Henri Beauthier, who were part of the successful legal action against Chilean dictator Pinochet, filed a lawsuit against former Chinese Vice Premier Li Lanqing. Lanqing headed the "6-10 Office", a Gestapo-like organisation established with the sole purpose of directing a terror campaign against Falun Gong practitioners. In January 2004, French lawyer Ms. Phelizon filed a lawsuit against Sun Jiazheng, the Chinese Minister of Culture, who is responsible for using the Internet and the rest of China’s state-controlled media to demonise Falun Gong and incite hatred against those who practise it, as well as blocking any factual information about Falun Gong and the persecution from reaching the international community.

In July 2004, an examining magistrate at the Court of Justice in Paris sent an International Letters Rogatory to China, requesting the Chinese authorities to investigate the two complaints. According to available information, this is the first time in French and European legal history that a French court sent an International Letters Rogatory to the Chinese authorities asking them to investigate senior Chinese Communist Party officials.

At 5:00pm on the 16th of December 2004, the French Falun Dafa Association and lawyers William Bourdon and Georges-Henri Beauthier held a joint press conference releasing the details of this legal action to the media.

Mr Bourdon said that because France signed the 1984 International Anti-Torture Treaty in 1987, the appearances of the defendants Li Lanqing and Sun Jiazheng in France handed the French legal system legal authority over these two people. The plaintiff Hélène Petit’s French citizenship also provided the French judges with the legal authority.

Mr Bourdon also said this was the first time in French legal history, and perhaps also in European legal history, that an examining magistrate sent an International Letters Rogatory to China against senior Chinese Communist Party officials. The judge requested the Chinese authorities and their investigators to take measures to carry out relevant investigations and provide explanations.

Mr Bourdon particularly stressed to the media that recently French Justice Minister Mr Perben signed an agreement with China to strength the cooperation in the justice field between the two countries. We therefore hope and also demand that the French and Chinese authorities actively cooperate in investigating the serious criminal action of the Chinese regime’s large-scale persecution of the Falun Gong spiritual movement.

Mr Bourdon pointed out that the International Letters Rogatory involved three main areas of responsibility: The responsibility of the direct executor of the persecution policy, such as the police; the responsibility of the organiser of the “6-10 Office” and how this office operates; the responsibility of officials above the ministerial level. He also stressed that it is a criminal action to use cultural activities in order to provide means and support for persecution and torture.

Mr Beauthier introduced to the media the legal action taken in Belgium. He pointed out that the Belgian law gives authority to arrest anyone committing the crime of genocide if they enter Belgium, including senior Chinese officials. Thus senior Chinese officials have not dared to visit Belgium since Belgian Falun Gong practitioners filed the lawsuits against Jiang Zemin for his crime of genocide. Mr Beauthier also exposed many lies against Falun Gong by the Jiang regime.

AFP, French Culture Radio, Radio France Internationale, Taiwan’s Central News Agency, New Tang Dynasty TV, The Epoch Times and other media attended the press conference. Other international media organisations requested the record of the conference. After the press conference, many reporters stayed to talk to Falun Gong practitioners and asked for the more information.

The International Letters Rogatory to Beijing, and also the progress made recently in lawsuits in Africa and Australia, indicated that many years’ legal efforts by Falun Gong practitioners against the persecution by the Jiang regime is starting to bear fruit in bringing the criminals to justice in the Jiang regime’s persecution of Falun Gong.