(Minghui.org) Beginning last May Falun Gong practitioners around the world have been filing lawsuits against former Chinese dictator Jiang Zemin. They want Jiang to be held criminally responsible for their suffering in the past 16 years of persecution.
As the practitioners continue their efforts in telling people about the persecution and the lawsuits, they are gaining support from the locals.
When I talked to local residents about the 200,000 lawsuits filed by practitioners and their families, many said that it was about time.
One farmer said to me, “Tell me when the trial will be and I will bring my friends to Beijing to celebrate!”
A patient in a local hospital signed a petition to support the lawsuit. He said, “If Falun Gong practitioners need any support, count me in first.”
A practitioner thanked a villager after he signed the petition to support the lawsuits. The villager said, “I have to thank you for giving me the opportunity to do such a great deed!”
An 86-year-old woman overheard a practitioner asking others to sign the petition supporting the lawsuit. She volunteered her signature. After she carefully put down her name, she told the practitioner, “This is because I know that Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) is good.”
A Falun Gong practitioner in Qingdao, Shandong Province handed a pamphlet about the lawsuit against Jiang to a passerby. The person quickly responded, “Jiang is not dead yet? That old thing persecutes not only Falun Gong and hurts everyone in the country. Mark my words: when Jiang dies, 99 percent of the people in China will be glad.”
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 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.