(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners in Sophia, Bulgaria, set up an informational display next to the Serdica Metro Station on January 23, 2016.

Despite freezing temperatures as low as -13 degrees Celsius (8 degrees Fahrenheit), many pedestrians stopped to learn about Falun Gong and sign a petition in support of the effort to sue the former Chinese dictator Jiang Zemin who launched the persecution of Falun Gong 16 years ago.

Since last May, over 200,000 persecution victims have filed criminal complaints against Jiang Zemin for his brutal crimes.

A practitioner (left) talks to visitors about the persecution of Falun Gong

A passerby (middle) signs the petition supporting the lawsuits against Jiang Zemin.

A passerby signs the petition as she listens to a practitioner (right)

Practitioners in Sofia set up a table next to the metro station

“Organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners is not acceptable. It's horrific and inhumane,” said a young man who stopped to sign the petition.

A woman walking by in a hurry told a practitioner, “I am against organ harvesting and I support your actions. There should be more people working on stopping the brutality. You are doing the right thing!”

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 over the past 16 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 now exercising that right to file criminal complaints against the former dictator.