(Clearwisdom.net) At 12:00 p.m. on September 7, 2004, the Falun Dafa Association of Spain held a press conference to announce a lawsuit against Jia Qinglin. Attorney Carlos Iglesias filed the lawsuit on behalf of practitioners, charging Jia with grave crimes against humanity committed during the brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in mainland China while he was Communist Party Secretary General of Beijing (the highest official position of the city) between 1999 and 2002. Mr. Iglesias and other practitioners introduced details of Jia's crimes to the media.

In a speech, a representative of the practitioners said, "During Jia's tenure as Communist Party Secretary General of Beijing, the period from 1999 to 2002 was the darkest time for practitioners during the persecution. Innumerable atrocities were committed against Falun Gong practitioners, including many cases of death due to torture. Zhao Xin, a professor of the University of Commerce and Industry of Beijing, Wang Lixuan, and her 8-month-old son were all tortured to death during this period. Moreover, the "Tiananmen Self-immolation" event was staged by Jiang's followers during this period. This well-planned plot was very destructive to Falun Gong's reputation and successfully instigated people's hatred toward practitioners. Consequently, practitioners' safety deteriorated further as the persecution escalated after this event. Moreover, the persecution was not limited to Beijing practitioners only. Practitioners from other areas were also severely persecuted in Beijing. A least 830,000 practitioners who went to Beijing to appeal were illegally arrested and detained in Beijing, or sent back to their hometowns for further detention and torture. Many practitioners were persecuted to death. Jia, as the Party Secretary General of Beijing at that time, is directly responsible for these crimes."

Attorney Iglesias said: "Based on the crimes Jia committed against practitioners during his tenure as head of Beijing, on behalf of practitioners, I filed a lawsuit with the National Spanish Court system charging him with genocide and crimes of torture, as Spanish law authorizes judges to rule over cases of international genocide. Moreover, Jia Qinglin can't allege immunity. In the face of genocide, it is not possible to argue diplomatic immunity. Considering the barbaric nature of the torture and murders of innocent people, these acts could not have been committed as part of official duties, rather they were exclusively done as personal acts, which were completely illegal, and blatant violations of the Chinese constitution itself, and the internal laws of China."

At the end of the press conference, practitioners called upon the international community to pay attention to the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong in China, and called on all kind-hearted people to help end this persecution.

Several renowned Spanish media, including Europa Press and National TV, as well as Reuters, attended the press conference. Europa Press and Reuters reported the lawsuit against Jia that afternoon.