(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioner Haipeng Du and other practitioners in Greater Washington DC region held a rally in front of Chinese Embassy at noon on November 14, 2016. They called for the immediate release of Haipeng's mother, Yuan Xiaoman, currently detained in Dalian, Liaoning Province, China for her belief in Falun Gong.
Ms. Yuan was taken away and her home was ransacked by police of Kunming Street Police Substation in Dalian on May 22 this year for her filing of a criminal complaint against former Chinese dictator Jiang Zemin. She has been detained since then. She was scheduled to undergo trial in Zhongshan District Court on November 16, 2016.
November 14, 2016 rally in front of Chinese Embassy in Washington DC to call for immediate release of Falun Gong practitioner Yuan Xiaoman, detained for her belief in China
“I couldn't believe it when I heard that my mother was arrested,” said Mr. Du. “She has not violated any law. Falun Gong teaches people to follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.”
Du went on to explain that former dictator Jiang Zemin, the former head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), personally launched the persecution of Falun Gong, going against the Constitution and that Chinese law allows for citizens to be plaintiffs in criminal cases.
He delivered an open letter to Zhongshan Court to the Chinese Embassy in which he called on the Dalian prosecutor and court to withdraw the unlawful charges and release his mother.
When Du was only 10 years old in China, his father was arrested in 2000 and incarcerated for three years in forced labor camps.
Though now safe in the U.S., Du is worried for his parents. While his mom faces unlawful sentencing, the police have threatened to arrest his father again as well.
Falun Dafa Association Spokesperson: Filing Complaints Against Jiang Is Legal
Spokesperson of the Washington DC Falun Dafa Association, Ms. Min Ge, pointed out that Ms. Yuan's filing a complaint against Jiang was her legal right.
She said that over 200,000 Falun Gong practitioners and their family members have filed complaints against Jiang since May 2015. Many of them were harassed or arrested by the authorities. Some of them faced trial and imprisonment. Thirty people were sentenced to prison for filing lawsuits against Jiang in September and October this year, she said.
Ms. Ge said that communist regime has sentenced a total of 258 practitioners to prison in September and October, while 112 practitioners were sentenced to prison in January and February, with terms ranging from 6 months to ten years. The growing numbers indicate an escalation of the persecution through the regime's lawless court system, she said.
Legal Professionals Testify to China's Abuse of the Law
“Ms.Yuan is one of hundreds of thousands of practitioners arrested and sent for unlawful trial. I know she is a kind woman,” said Dejun Li, a former judge from Dalian, now living in the greater Washington DC area.
Li was a presiding judge in Ganjingzi District Court, Dalian. He oversaw trials against Falun Gong practitioners for first three months of the persecution in 1999. Through this, he realized the persecution was unjust and began reading Falun Gong books, eventually taking up the practice himself.
Then, on June 21, 2007, he too was arrested for practicing Falun Gong. He was sentenced to three years in prison in December of that year.
Former Chinese lawyer Yongfeng Peng said at the rally, “In China, Falun Gong practitioners have been suffering inhumane persecution by the CCP. Jiang is the chief culprit behind the persecution, so it's right that the victims are filing lawsuits against him.”
He called on the Chinese police, prosecutors and judges to refuse to be a party to the persecution.
Background
In 1999, Jiang Zemin, as head of the Chinese Communist Party, overrode other Politburo standing committee members and launched the violent suppression of Falun Gong.
The persecution has led to the deaths of many Falun Gong practitioners in the past 17 years. More have been tortured for their belief and even killed for their organs. Jiang Zemin is directly responsible for the inception and continuation of the brutal persecution.
Under his personal direction, the Chinese Communist Party established an extralegal security organ, the “610 Office,” on June 10, 1999. The organization overrides police forces and the judicial system in carrying out Jiang's directive regarding Falun Gong: to ruin their reputations, cut off their financial resources, and destroy them physically.
Chinese law allows for citizens to be plaintiffs in criminal cases, and many practitioners are exercising that right to file criminal complaints against the former dictator.
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Category: Rallies & Protests
