Contempt of Court Trial Set for Newspaper and Author that Allegedly Slandered Falun Gong in Canada

For Immediate release
News Release March 15, 2002

Montreal, March 15, 2002 ---- Yesterday, Falun Gong practitioners appeared before Superior Court of Quebec Justice Carole Julien to present their evidence in support of Contempt of Court charges previously authorized by the Court against Montreal-based Chinese newspaper Les Presses Chinoises and its publishers, Crescent Chau and Bing He.

Madam Justice Julien, after conferring with Superior Court Chief Justice Lyse Lemieux, ordered that, given the threat to the security of persons, particularly in China, and considering the importance of this matter, the contempt trial will proceed from April 15 to April 19.

Justice Julien further ordered Les Presses Chinoises to remove offensive anti-Falun Gong materials from its website.

The lawyer representing Falun Gong practitioners, Mr. Michael Bergman, said: "the court is sensitive to the seriousness of the charges and the alleged effects of the defendant's activities both in Canada and in China. The trial will give a unique opportunity for Falun Gong practitioners to state their case in a legal forum and to seek the justice that would otherwise be denied them in the People's Republic of China."

The court order was rendered in the presence of the publishers, Cresent Chau and Bing He.

On November 3, 2001, and on the following weekends, Les Presses Chinoises continuously published articles defaming Falun Gong. Some of the contents are word for word copies of materials from the Chinese Embassy. To stop this defamation, 126 Falun Gong practitioners from Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto filed a lawsuit against the paper. From December 10, 2001 to February 7, 2002, the Quebec Superior Court reiterated 3 times a safeguard order in 3 consecutive hearings, each time with stricter restrictions, to prohibit the paper from publishing anti Falun Gong publications.

However, these orders have apparently been ignored by the paper. A 12 page special issue was published on February 2, 2002 that called on the Chinese community to "denounce" Falun Gong. Falun Gong practitioners filed a lawsuit suing them for being in "contempt of court" two weeks ago. Yesterday was the first hearing for the contempt charges.