Press Releases and Media Reports
TV and Radio | Publications | Press Releases
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Radio France Internationale: Falun Gong Accuses Jiang Zemin and the 610 Office of Crimes of Torture and Genocide.
2004-06-04'According to a report by the Falun Dafa Information Centre, the Chicago Superior Court is to decide whether Jiang Zemin, the ex-chairman of China, is exempt from the charges against him. Groups such as Falun Dafa have charged Jiang Zemin with crimes of cruel torture, genocide, and crimes against humanity. The Falun Dafa Information Centre appealed to Falun Gong practitioners worldwide to go to every Chinese Embassy on this day.' -
Radio Free Asia: A German Human Rights Lawyer Says that the Chicago Trial has Laid the Legal Foundation for Future Trials
2004-06-03'On June the 4th 1989, on TV screens all over the world, the Chinese Government arbitrarily slaughtered college students who called for democracy and had no weapons. After ten years, the leadership of the Chinese government again launched a brutal campaign of persecution against Falun Gong practitioners who adhere to their belief in Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance.' -
France: Appeal at the Chinese Embassy in Paris to Support the Hearing Against Jiang Zemin in the Chicago Court of Justice
2004-05-31On May the 27th, joining other countries, practitioners in Paris went to the Chinese Embassy to appeal and support the hearing taking place in Chicago against Jiang Zemin. Passersby stopped to look at information boards illustrating the beauty of Dafa and the cruelty of the persecution happening in China. -
Radio Free Asia: Supporting the Lawsuit Against Jiang Zemin in a Chicago Court
2004-05-31According to a report by a journalist for Radio Free Asia, German and other European Falun Gong practitioners, human rights groups and the Global Alliance to Bring Jiang to Justice, participated in various activities at the Chinese Embassies and Consulates around Europe to voice their support for the lawsuit against Jiang Zemin currently taking place in a Chicago court. The lawsuit against Jiang Zemin filed by Falun Gong practitioners began proceedings in Chicago on May 27th. -
German Falun Gong Information Centre: Demanding an End to the Former Chinese Head of State's Escape From Punishment
2004-05-28On September the 12th 2003, the District Court dismissed the suit against Jiang Zemin on the basis of his right to immunity as head of state. The public widely criticised this decision. The plaintiffs filed an appeal on January the 12th 2004 with the Appeals Court in Chicago. On Thursday May the 27th 2004, attorneys, plaintiffs and others functioning as amicus curiae will have an opportunity to verbally address the Appeals Court in Chicago and voice their views. -
Article from The Epoch Times: The Chinese Party Secretary Sued While Visiting Boston
2004-05-28On May 21st, Chinese Communist Party Secretary Wang Taihua was served with a class-action lawsuit charging him with torture, murder, and genocide. The complaint alleges that under Wang’s direction, the four plaintiffs were subjected to torture and abuse in the Female Labour Re-Education Camp and mental hospitals located in Anhui Province. -
EFGIC: Torture Chambers on Chicago’s Federal Plaza
2004-05-27LONDON (EFGIC) – A groundbreaking public exhibition in the streets of Chicago is re-creating the conditions of Chinese labour camps and torture chambers. As part of events to build public understanding of the extensive persecution against Falun Gong in China that lead to the lawsuit in Chicago federal court against former Chinese president Jiang Zemin, Falun Gong practitioners are enacting methods of torture in the exhibition “Persecution Meets Principle.” -
Report from The Guardian: The Sadness of Chinese Journalism
2004-05-26"The reason for this lack of originality in Chinese Journalism was the fact that almost every publication used the same supplier: the Xinhua News Agency. Many newspapers cannot afford a network of foreign correspondents, but the problem in China is one of censorship rather than resources. While many papers have access to other international news sources, such as Reuters or the Associated Press, they are only permitted to use these newswires for certain stories." -
Bertie Ahern, the Irish Prime Minister, Tells the Chinese Premier of His Human Rights Concerns
2004-05-25The Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) said that he raised the Chinese occupation of Tibet and the suppression of the Falun Gong spiritual movement during a two-hour meeting with Mr Wen, who is on a two-day state visit to Ireland. "For decades China refused to engage at all with the various human rights bodies," he said. "They have now agreed to do so, which is a considerable achievement and they were responding to a request, not a request that I thought up, but a request that human rights bodies have asked us to do. -
Report from Swiss Newspaper La Liberte
2004-05-21A victim of polyarthritis that left her hands stiff, Zhang Cuiying could no longer paint. She tried numerous medicines without success. She explains that, from 1997, the Falun Gong exercises purified her body and spirit and allowed her to recommence her work. “Since then, I have made it a part of my life. In 1999, everything changed radically. China, which had supported the traditional movement since 1992, now made it illegal and arrested and imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners." -
Radio France Internationale: Falun Gong Practitioners Gather to Celebrate the 5th World Falun Dafa Day
2004-05-19On May 15th, Radio France International reported the latest news in a Chinese-language broadcast to mainland China and the to the greater Paris region. In order to celebrate the fifth World Falun Day, Falun Gong practitioners in California, U.S.A held a rally to highlight the prosecution pending against Jiang Zemin. A rally was held in Human Rights Square in Los Angeles with displays of the torture instruments that have been used to brutally torture Falun Gong practitioners. -
EFGIC: Fifth Annual World Falun Dafa Day Celebrations Held in 50 Cities Worldwide
2004-05-18'The celebrations included traditional dancing, singing and public demonstrations of the Falun Gong exercises. Activities in most cities also carried a sobering message, as speeches and pictorial exhibitions revealed details of the violent, on-going persecution of Falun Gong in China.' -
Olympic Watch Issues Press Release on World Falun Dafa Day
2004-05-18Prague, March 19th 2004 – On the occasion of Falun Dafa Day, Olympic Watch (Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games in a Free and Democratic Country) has issued a statement today, condemning religious persecution in the People’s Republic of China. Olympic Watch was established in Prague in 2001. Its mission is to monitor the human rights situation in China in the run-up to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and to campaign to achieve improvements in the lives of the people of China. -
Report from Danish Newspaper Kristeligt Dagblad
2004-05-18'"The western governments have a moral authority, which they have to use. They are about to make business relationships with China and invest in the country, but it must all the time be supplemented with a demand for better human rights", says Erping Zhang. Maybe it will be possible some day for him to again phone home to his mother in China. He has not done so since he was blacklisted, knowing full well that his mother would be punished for talking with a son that criticises the government.' -
Article from the Irish Times: Chinese Falun Gong Practitioner tells of Rights Abuse
2004-05-14'A Chinese Falun Gong practitioner (1) made a passionate appeal for an end to human rights abuses in his country at a meeting of a parliamentary committee in Leinster House yesterday. He claimed he was subjected to "brainwashing" to force him to renounce his beliefs. He further alleged that, on different occasions, he was deprived of sleep, forced to squat and had his hands pinned behind his back, all for long periods. Mr Zhao alleged he was beaten so hard that he "couldn't walk for two weeks" and that he was also subjected to electric shocks.'