Hong Kong Falun Gong Practitioners File a Lawsuit to Correct Unjust Treatment

(Clearwisdom.net) On January 29, 2004, at a pre-trial in small claims court, Hong Kong Falun Gong practitioners were trying to correct unjust treatment by Hong Kong society under Jiang's group's persecution on Falun Gong.

The parties involved in the lawsuit are Falun Gong practitioners from the Hong Kong Falun Buddhism Association and the Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel and Towers. The incident occurred on February 15, 2003. Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel and Towers suddenly notified Hong Kong Falun Buddhism Association of the cancellation of a contract signed on November 28, 2002, citing "security reasons." The contract allowed Hong Kong Falun Buddhism Association to use a conference room at Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel and Towers to hold an experience-sharing conference with a payment of 43,000 Hong Kong dollars. Hong Kong Falun Buddhism Association refused to accept the unjust cancellation and contacted the hotel many times in the expectation of clarifying the truth and resolving the problem properly. After repeated requests for an appointment, the representatives of the hotel promised to meet with practitioners on February 18 but failed to provide any explanation for the cancellation during the meeting.

Practitioners requested the hotel to fulfill its duty according to the contract and find a room equivalent to the one originally reserved. However, practitioners found out later that evening that the new room was a nightclub holding only 200 people. Subsequently, practitioners found another conference site that could hold 700 people, much smaller than the conference room originally reserved. On the day the conference was held, 200 local practitioners could not attend the conference due to the limited space in the room. On February 20, 2003, the Hong Kong Falun Buddhism Association requested the hotel provide at least 50,000 Hong Kong dollars as compensation along with an open apology.

On February 25, the hotel replied that it would pay 50,000 Hong Kong dollars compensation on the condition that practitioners not bring this incident to public. Because this condition violated the freedom of speech and principles of social justice, the Hong Kong Falun Buddhism Association refused to accept the condition. When the practitioners could not receive any reply in their attempt to settle the problem justly, they filed a lawsuit in small claims court on December 2, 2003, requesting the hotel to pay a compensation of 50,000 Hong Kong dollars.

Practitioners pointed out that the incident occurred during the period when the Hong Kong government was pushing for Article 23, the anti-subversion legislation, under pressure from Jiang Zemin. At that time, Falun Gong and other groups were bearing heavy social pressure. The Association had notified the police about the experience-sharing conference on February 14. The hotel canceled the contract the next day. The reason behind the cancellation was intriguing ("security reasons"). Because the incident occurred suddenly, practitioners had to work nervously, anxiously, and hastily to find a new site for the conference and make new arrangements within a week. It is reasonable to request the hotel to pay compensation. More importantly, the lawsuit made the hotel staff involved in the incident and the whole society realize that the cancellation of the contract hurt a peaceful group of people who practice Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance, interfered with their regular activities, and helped extend Jiang's persecution of Falun Gong. Filing the lawsuit was to give the people involved in the incident a chance to correct their mistakes and to choose their future, not to count the losses and gains in the human world.

Practitioners said, during the last four years' persecution of Falun Gong by Jiang's group, the peacefulness, reason, and unyielding spirit displayed by Falun Gong practitioners everywhere were well-praised. Falun Gong practitioners held several large-scale activities in the past under the atmosphere of peace and serenity. No problem had ever happened. During this incident of the cancellation of hotel reservation, the hotel cited "security reasons," however, even the Hong Kong police department admitted that Hong Kong was not a target of terrorism at that time and there was no cancellation of room reservations in any other hotel. Thus, using "security reasons" to cancel the reservation was groundless whether from the outside atmosphere or from inside the hotel.

The case was scheduled for a pre-trial on the morning on January 29, 2004. Some Falun Gong practitioners went to the court to audit. The case will be tried again on March 29, 2004. Many media have become interested in the case and sent their journalists to cover the event.

January 29, 2004

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/1/30/66160.html

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