The Epoch Times: Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer Criticized for Delaying Court Proceedings

By Ben Hurley

The Epoch Times Australia Staff
February 1, 2006

(Clearwisdom.net)

Human rights lawyer Bernard Collaery has told the ACT Supreme Court that restricting the rights of Falun Gong practitioners to peacefully protest outside the Chinese Embassy in Canberra affects the rights of all Australians to demonstrate.

Two Falun Gong practitioners are taking legal action against Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer in response to his banning of practitioners from using loudspeakers, signage on vehicles, and banners outside the Chinese Embassy. The ban is issued through monthly certificates, the first of which was signed in March 2002, one day before the visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan.

The ongoing protest outside the Embassy addresses the Chinese Communist Party's six-year campaign against practitioners of the Falun Gong meditation practice, which has left thousands dead through torture and abuse in police custody.

In a hearing on Monday January 30, the court heard that Mr. Downer has repeatedly not complied with court orders to provide evidence, stalling the lawsuit for more than four months.

"As I informed the court, this is a test now of the will of the judicial system against the clear abuse, in my view, of the court process and procedures, by this Foreign Minister," said Mr. Collaery outside the court.

"He's failed to comply, he's treating this court with contempt."

Mr. Collaery likened Mr Downer's certificates to banning protest against the death penalty. "Mr. Downer takes the view that you cannot offend the dignity of the Chinese Embassy. Now what if you move, on the issue of the death penalty, to another embassy. Will Mr. Downer issue an order again and then stall for weeks and weeks and weeks whilst executions are carried out?"

"This is a matter for Australians, but if I have a child, or a loved one, facing a death penalty, I'd want to be sure that I could, if I wanted to, stand outside that embassy and plead for my child's life. This is what this case is about."

Falun Gong spokesperson Kay Rubacek said that Falun Gong practitioners would continue with the lawsuit for as long as it takes, but that the delays were causing distress to the plaintiffs.

"[These delays are] causing distress to the plaintiffs, who have had personal experiences of imprisonment and torture in Chinese laogai, reeducation through labor camps, simply because they practice Falun Gong."

The next hearing is scheduled for April 3 in the ACT Supreme Court.

Currently there are four separate lawsuits launched by Falun Gong practitioners in Australia. These include two launched by Australian citizens against Chinese government officials for the torture they experienced while in Chinese custody, as well as a defamation lawsuit against the "2ac Chinese Daily" newspaper for printing an article based on false information provided by an official from the Chinese Consulate General in Sydney.

Source http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/6-2-1/37626.html

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