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Canada: Falun Gong Practitioners' Lawsuit Against Jiang Makes Breakthrough Progress By Minghui/Clearwisdom reporter Ye Linghui
(Clearwisdom.net) On July 17, 2006, the plaintiffs, who have filed a
lawsuit against Jiang Zemin and four other Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
officials for torture, requested the court be dispensed with service to the
defendants of the statement of claim and other court materials. The Ontario
Superior Court granted their request. Plaintiffs' attorney Kate Kempton said,
"The victory clears the way for a default judgment on the civil
lawsuit." The lawsuit accused that the five defendants including Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan,
Li Lanqing, Liu Jing and Wang Maolin orchestrated together a systematic and
brutal persecution of the six Canadian plaintiffs and hundreds of thousands of
other Falun Gong practitioners in China. One of the plaintiffs, Professor Kunlun
Zhang, was a Canadian citizen at the time of his detention and torture in China. Master Glustein of the Ontario Superior Court said in the five-page decision,
"The plaintiffs have done everything in [their] power to effect service of
the claim." He also stated that it is in the interests of justice that service be
dispensed with so that the case may proceed. "The plaintiffs will not be
able to pursue any of these claims (systematic persecution and violations of
genocide, torture and crimes against humanity) unless the Court dispenses with
service." Six plaintiffs were satisfied with the court's decision, and hoped that the
court will continue upholding justice in the proceeding later. If the defendants
do not respond to the suit, the trial will go by default. One of the plaintiffs He Lizhi was illegally detained for three years and six
months by the CCP for practicing Falun Gong prior to his arrival in Canada in
2004. He expressed that the court's decision heartened him. On November 15, 2004, Canadian citizen Kunlun Zhang and five other Ontario
residents filed a civil lawsuit with the Ontario Supreme Court against former
Chinese leader Jiang Zemin and CCP high-ranking officials including Li Lanqing,
Luo Gan, Liu Jing and Wang Maolin. These people are primarily responsible for
the torture and persecution imposed upon the six plaintiffs and hundreds of
thousands of other Falun Gong practitioners. This case is one of 54 civil and criminal legal proceedings in 33 countries,
against Jiang and other officials. Falun Gong practitioners have won several
default judgments around the world.
Posting date: 8/2/2006 |