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Canadian Lawyers Take on Torture Suit Against Jiang Zemin Minghui correspondents Wang Qingying and Zhou Hailun
(Clearwisdom.net) On March 12, 2004, Canadian citizen Professor Zhang
Kunlun requested Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler's permission to press
criminal charges against 22 persecutors of Falun Gong, including Jiang Zemin,
the former Chinese president. At this time, professor Zhang Kunlun's lawyers are
preparing paperwork for this lawsuit. The Canadian paper Winnipeg Sun reported on March 15 in the local news
column that a local lawyer was processing the case of Canadian citizen Zhang
Kunlun, who had been tortured in China. Mr. David Matas is one of the two
lawyers representing professor Zhang Kunlun. Mr. Matas accepted the case to set
a legal precedent, which will send a clear message that the Canadian justice
system will prosecute foreign government leaders responsible for cases of
torture carried out against a Canadian citizen. Professor Zhang Kunlun was
arrested numerous times for practicing Falun Gong. He was tortured while in
custody in China and shocked with high-voltage electric batons. According to the Taiwanese FTV network, the 63-year-old Zhang Kunlun,
an art professor, was abducted and detained in China four times for practicing
Falun Gong. Professor Zhang Kunlun pressed 45 charges, eight of which are
against Jiang Zemin. A Clearwisdom report from February 2004 relates that between October 2002 and
November 2003, Jiang Zemin was sued in at least seven locations around the
world, including Beijing, Chicago, Spain, Taiwan, Germany, Korea, and Belgium. As FTV states, "Since Jiang is no longer a state head, he is not
protected by immunity." If he is indicted and convicted by a Canadian
court, he may face a formal warning or extradition. The Winnipeg Sun report states that, "professor Zhang had moved
to Canada after the alleged torture in 2001 and has since become a Canadian
citizen. Now he is hoping to bring his alleged torturers and their bosses to
justice in a Canadian courtroom." Said Mr. Matas, "a total of 22
people have been identified, including former Chinese president Jiang Zemin." The report further quoted Mr. Matas as saying that there is a section under
the Criminal Code that allows this country's judicial system to prosecute cases
of torture on foreign soil as long as they happened to a Canadian citizen. The attorney general must approve the case for it to go ahead, which lawyer
Matas admitted is unprecedented in this country. "If the attorney general
were to allow it, in theory, Canada could go to Interpol with these charges and
they could go for an extradition treaty," said Matas. "If anything,
this could bottle these people up in their own country so they cannot
leave." Posting date: 3/21/2004 |