La Presse Chinoise Faces Charges of Contempt of Court and Slander as Their Appeal is Rejected

(Clearwisdom.net) Clearwisdom correspondent Chu Tianxing reports: On December 11, 2003, the Supreme Court of Canada rejected La Presse Chinoise's appeal regarding the Quebec Superior Court's decision to continue the process of the charge of contempt of court. Thus La Presse Chinoise is presently facing yet another charge in addition to slander against Falun Gong and inciting hatred.

In November 2001, La Presse Chinoise published several articles that attacked Falun Gong. More than 200 Canadian Falun Gong practitioners filed a lawsuit with the Quebec Superior Court against the author of those articles, He Bing, and against the newspaper. The court issued a safeguard order (restraining order) prohibiting Les Presse Chinoise from publishing further anti-Falun Gong articles.

The newspaper ignored this safeguard order and continued to slander Falun Gong. On February 2, 2002, it published a 12-page anti-Falun Gong insert, which brought up the case of the contempt of court from the slander case.

On April 15, 2002, a court hearing for the contempt of court case was held. The judge on duty decided to throw out the case, saying that the previous court prohibition order "was not clear." Falun Gong practitioners were not convinced and appealed.

On June 27, 2003, a senior judge in the Appeals Tribunal of the Canadian Quebec Superior Court overruled the previous decision and ordered the court to proceed with the contempt of court case.

In September 2003, La Presse Chinoise appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, trying to avoid the contempt of court charge.

On Thursday, December 11, 2003, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the "application for leave to appeal" by a La Presses Chinoises legal representative. This decision of dismissal clears the way for Falun Gong practitioners to pursue their contempt of court charges against the newspaper.

Michael Bergman, legal counsel for the petitioners, expressed his satisfaction with the Supreme Court's decision saying, "Once again, our court demonstrated its willingness to allow minority groups to pursue in court those persons who deny them their right to equality, respect and dignity in Canadian society."

"Falun Gong practitioners, by their vigorous pursuit of their civil rights before the courts of law have demonstrated their belief that our Canadian law and social order can be upheld by the legal system," said Bergman.

Montreal Falun Gong practitioner Yang Hui, one of the plaintiffs said, "La Presse Chinoise continued to slander Falun Gong and to incite hatred after the court issued a safeguard order. This is obviously a display of contempt of court, which had serious consequences. According to evidence shown at the slander case from November 10 to November 27 at the Quebec Superior Court, the People's Daily and dozens of other major newspaper websites in Mainland China published the Falun Gong-attacking articles from La Presse Chinoise, which helped to escalate the persecution against Falun Gong practitioners in China.

Regarding the La Presse Chinoise slander case, after 11 hearings, the 12 witnesses and defendant's witnesses have finished their court testimony. The Quebec Superior Court decided that attorneys for both parties shall debate in court in late February 2004. The court will make its final decision after the debate.

When Zhou Jinxing, head of La Presse Chinoise news agency testified in court, he admitted that the material published in early November of 2001 against Falun Gong was "incoherent and irrational." He also admitted that he personally wrote many of the anti-Falun Gong articles, though he or his staff had never interviewed any practitioners, nor had he read any of the Falun Gong teachings at that time.

In his indictment statement on June 27, 2003, His Honor Mr. Jean-Louis Beaudoin, a senior judge at the Quebec Superior Court pointed out that "contempt of court is a serious charge, whether it's civil or criminal." The court will therefore render an especially strict and just decision. This appeal has overturned the original mistake because the original safeguard order was actually clear. The Supreme Court of Canada ordered the contempt of court case to be therefore reinstated.

Senior judge, His Honor Mr. Jean- Louis Beaudoin indicated in his judgment that in November and December 2001 and in the early part of 2002, La Presse Chinoise Inc. published and circulated on its website materials that allegedly seriously offended the appellants. The members of Falun Gong were accused of a variety of criminal behaviors, of subversion and sabotage. It appears that most, if not all of these texts, were taken from quasi-official statements made by the Chinese government, which has apparently attempted by various means to prevent the spreading of the Falun Gong's doctrine and to discredit its members in certain expatriate Chinese communities.

This decision has been recorded in the most prestigious law journal -- Dominion Law Reports, and will become a reference for cases of a similar nature in the future. "This appeals decision establishes important legal points that set the precedent and certain principles that lawyers can use for other cases. It established the authority and principle for a court to restrict certain publications of defamatory or hateful literature in civil cases," said Mr. Bergman, legal counsel for Falun Gong practitioners.

In September 2003, La Presse Chinoise appealed to the Canadian Supreme Court regarding the above decision by the Quebec Superior Court. The Supreme Court dismissed La Presse Chinoise's appeal.

Regarding the Supreme Court's decision to dismiss La Presse Chinoise's appeal, Lucy Zhou, a plaintiff for the case said, "The Supreme Court's decision is very significant for Falun Gong practitioners' efforts to stop the hate propaganda that has been used to justify and fuel the persecution for over four years. This hate propaganda, orchestrated by the Communist regime inside and outside of China, has made the Chinese community apathetic to the savage torture and the killing of practitioners. We hope that people's conscience will awaken, so our fellow Chinese people will make the right choice between good and evil."

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2003/12/16/62678.html

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