Spain's Supreme Court said today a lawsuit brought by the Chinese spiritual movement Falun gong accusing a top Chinese official of genocide could go ahead.
That means Falun gong can now appeal against an earlier rejection of the lawsuit by the Audencia Nacional, Spain's highest criminal court.
Falun gong brought the suit in September 2004 against Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), just before he visited Spain.
The spiritual movement, which is banned in China, accuses Jia of committing genocide when he was secretary of the Chinese Communist Party's local committee in Beijing between 1999 and 2002.
The Audencia Nacional rejected the lawsuit on the grounds that it had not been established that Jia was in Spain.
But the Supreme Court ruled that the case was indeed within the jurisdiction of the country's courts. This follows its acceptance in October 2005 of the principle of "universal competence", which means that Spanish courts are competent to hear cases of genocide and crimes against humanity wherever they occur and whatever the nationality of the defendant.
The ruling came the day after another Spanish court began hearing a case against seven Chinese leaders accused of genocide, torture and crimes against humanity in Tibet during the 1980s.
Despite criticism of China's human rights record, Spain became in November 2005 the first European Union country to sign an extradition treaty with Beijing.
* * *
You are welcome to print and circulate all articles published on Clearharmony and their content, but please quote the source.
more ...