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Judge Gives Green Light to Criminal Trial of Chen Zhili in Tanzania
(Clearwisdom.net) Minghui reporter Zhen Yan: New progress has been made
in the lawsuit against Chen Zhili, the former Minister of Education and
currently a Member of the Chinese State Council. The preliminary hearing in Dar
Es Salaam, Tanzania, on August 3 was in favor of the Falun Gong practitioners in
Ethiopia, on whose behalf attorneys brought the case. The case was initiated as a civil action via an affidavit filed with the
Tanzanian Court on July 19. The affidavit alleges Chen Zhili is guilty of murder
and torture of Chinese teachers and students who practice Falun Gong. The
judge's decision concluded the civil action, clearing the way for a criminal
trial. According to the Falun Gong practitioners' attorney, the plaintiff's
witnesses are ready to appear in court. Chen was Minister of Education from 1998-2003, and is currently a member of
the Chinese State Council. She had a romantic affair with Jiang Zemin and had
enjoyed power. She championed Jiang's persecution policies in the Chinese
educational system, which resulted in an extraordinarily cruel persecution in
that system. According to incomplete estimates, in 2003 alone, at least 435
Falun Gong practitioners in 210 Chinese universities and colleges were forced
into labor camps or mental hospitals. Over the past five years, at least 61
teachers or students were killed for practicing Falun Gong. Moreover, Chen Zhili also held numerous meetings to implement the
persecution. She published decrees in the name of the Ministry of Education, to
order teachers and students in universities, secondary and primary schools to
take their stand in this persecution; she forced teachers and students to view
propaganda films that defamed Falun Gong and sign statements that renounced and
attacked Falun Gong. Due to her orders, educational content designed to defame
Falun Gong and incite hatred was incorporated into primary and secondary school
textbooks as well as tests and exams, including those in universities and
graduate schools. State run propaganda in the form of TV programs produced by
CCTV was broadcast at Normal Schools [teacher training institutions] to
instill hatred against Falun Gong into the minds of future teachers. After visiting South Africa and the Republic of Zimbabwe, she arrived in
Tanzania on July 17, 2004 for a four-day visit. She appeared in person in court
on July 19, upon being subpoenaed in Tanzania. This was the first time that a
defendant personally appeared in an overseas court in the series of ongoing
lawsuits against Chinese officials for their crimes in the persecution of Falun
Gong. Tanzania, a democratic country, located in eastern Africa, has an independent
legal system. Before Chen was sued, at least ten Chinese government officials
who personally participated in the persecution of Falun Gong were served with
lawsuits in the U.S.A., Canada, Taiwan and European countries. The officials
include former Chinese president Jiang Zemin who single-handedly launched and
directed the persecution. The persecution of Falun Gong practitioners who practice and live by Truth,
Compassion, Tolerance, the principles of Falun Gong, will not be tolerated.
Falun Gong practitioners around the world are paying earnest attention to the
investigation of persecutors and are treating the issue with righteous thoughts. |