Hartford Courant, United States: Court In City Hears Falun Gong Torture Suit (Excerpt)

September 23, 2005

A packed Hartford federal courtroom Thursday became a forum on human rights, torture and free speech as an extraordinary hearing unfolded about events taking place 7,000 miles away in the People's Republic of China.

The federal lawsuit in question pits practitioners of Falun Gong - a spiritual movement banned in China - against a prominent Chinese journalist they accuse of promoting the persecution and torture of Falun Gong followers.

How it came to play out in the courtroom of U.S. District Chief Judge Robert N. Chatigny is as intriguing as the lawsuit itself. So many Chinese and Chinese Americans - many from Boston, New York and New Jersey and some from Washington - thronged the courthouse that admission to the courtroom had to be halted when all the seats were filled, leaving dozens waiting outside to learn what transpired.

Zhao Zhizhen is a prominent producer of science programs, former chief of the leading radio and television stations in Wuhan and a member of the Anti-[slanderous word omitted] Association of China. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit, represented by the Washington-based Human Rights Law Project, claim that, through broadcasts and websites, Zhao has advocated the arrest, torture and killing of Falun Gong practitioners.

The lawsuit was brought under two federal laws - the Torture Victims Protection Act and Alien Tort Claims Act, which permit civil actions to be filed for acts of torture committed abroad against U.S. citizens or citizens of other nations. The lead plaintiff is Chen Gang, a New Jersey systems analyst who claims he was imprisoned in a Chinese labor camp in 2000 and tortured for 18 months because of his devotion to Falun Gong.

The lawsuit was served on Zhao in 2004 in New Haven, where he was attending his daughter's graduation from a Yale master's program. Thursday's hearing was on Zhao's motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

[...]

Human rights attorney Terri E. Marsh said Zhao is "intricately linked to a campaign of genocide and torture."

Marsh said Zhao is one of the founders of the website operated by the Anti-[slanderous word omitted] Association of China, which includes language "that calls directly for the eradication of Falun Gong." He quoted some of the messages as saying "Shoot them once they're confirmed" and "Beat them like road rats."

[...]

Marsh stressed that media outlets in China are controlled by the government and the Communist Party and are "severely censored."

[...]

Marsh said Zhao had direct control over the media outlets and an obligation to stop the broadcast of material that incites violence against Falun Gong practitioners. She cited in particular a broadcast purporting to be the self-immolation of a Falun Gong practitioner.

Chatigny did not say when he expected to issue a ruling on the motion.

http://www.courant.com/hc-falungong0923.artsep23,0,3515867.story?coll=hc-headlines-home

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