(Minghui.org) In increasing numbers, Falun Gong practitioners are now exercising their legal right to sue Jiang Zemin for launching the persecution of Falun Gong and causing them great harm and tremendous suffering during the past 16 years.

The Minghui website receives copies of these criminal complaints daily. Below is a snapshot of several practitioners whose copies of lawsuits were received on July 22 and 23, 2015.

These lawsuits are mailed to the Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate, which are required to process all criminal complaints filed by citizens, as of a recent ruling by the Supreme People's Court.

Formerly Successful People Sue Jiang Zemin

The practitioners and their family members featured below had successful careers before the persecution started. Some held high positions in government agencies.

However, their positions did not spare them from being sent to forced labor camps, prison and/or brainwashing center multiple times. They were also brutally tortured.1: Professor Zhou Qinglong (周青龙) and Son Mr. Zhou Li (周立)

Profession: Mr. Zhou Qinglong is a retired Professor at Shijiazhuang Ordnance Engineering College. His son, Mr. Zhou Li, is a postgraduate student at Peking University.Hometown: Shijiazhuang City, Hebei ProvinceDate filed: Recent, date not specified

Key Facts: Professor Zhou was arrested three times and his house ransacked. The second time, he was sentenced to two years of forced labor camp and taken to a brainwashing center after his third arrest. Due to the poor conditions in the labor camp, he developed symptoms of tachycardia.

Mr. Zhou Li was preparing to leave for overseas study when he was deceived by his father's colleague to return home to take care of his mother. His mother was terrified after her husband's arrest and detention, and she began to suffer from a mental disorder.

Mr. Zhou Li later left home to avoid continuous harassment by police. He was arrested shortly with other practitioners and sentenced to two years of forced labor. After his release, he started making flyers to expose the persecution and was arrested and sentenced to seven years in prison. His mother became suicidal during his imprisonment.

Current Circumstances: Professor Zhou and his son are currently free. However, the police and community committee members in their district continue to harass them. Professor Zhou's retirement salary was lowered by two to three levels.

Related Report(s): After Murdering Many Dafa Practitioners, Police in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province Plan to Illegally Try Practitioners, Including Wang XinzhongThree Falun Gong Practitioners in Shijiazhuang City Sent to Brainwashing CenterPersecution at Shijiazhuang Ordinance Engineering College in Hebei Province

Details of complaint in Chinese

2: Mr. Hu Yuanqin (胡元勤)

Profession: Former chairman of Real Estate Development CompanyHometown: Nanjing City, Jiangsu ProvinceDate filed: Recent, date not specified

Key Facts: Mr. Hu was arrested and detained six times for practicing Falun Gong. Before the persecution, he was the chairman of his company. Because he refused to give up his belief, he lost his position and was demoted to a manager.

Mr. Hu's latest arrest took place on March 5, 2014, before the start of the Nanjing Youth Olympics. He was told that he would be sentenced if he refused to "transform."

Before his May 2015 hearing, his lawyer pointed out that such treatment of Falun Gong practitioners is illegal and asked the judge to drop the lawsuit. His request was denied, and Mr. Hu's trial was set for June 16, 2015.

Current Circumstances: Mr. Hu is currently detained.

Related Report(s): Businessman Arrested and Facing Prosecution
Additional Persecution News from China – June 5, 2015 (19 Reports)

Details of complaint in Chinese

3: Ms. Zhang Yijie (张亦洁)

Profession: Former division chief at the General Office of the Ministry of CommerceHometown: BeijingDate filed: Recent, date not specified

Key Facts: Ms. Zhang was arrested and detained seven times between 1999 and 2006. She was once taken to a brainwashing center. When she resisted, four burly men grabbed her by her clothes and manhandled her into a car, nearly choking her in the process.

During her detentions, she was brutally tortured. Beatings left injuries on her back, legs, and hands. She experienced periodic blindness, and her thinking and speech were affected. Her hair has turned white.

Current Circumstances: Ms. Zhang left home in September 2006 and went to Thailand. Subsequently, she was granted asylum by the United Nations and went to the United States in October 2007.

Related Report(s): Ms. Zhang Yijie Recounts Nine Years of Persecution

Details of complaint in Chinese

4: Ms. Li Yaping (李亚萍) and Sister Ms. Li Weiping (李维平)

Profession: Ms. Li Yaping is a former employee at Jiangxi Province Yingtan railway depot. The profession of her younger sister, Ms Li Weiping, is unknown.Hometown: Fuzhou City, Fujian ProvinceDate filed: July 20, 2015

Key Facts: Ms. Li Weiping is suing Jiang Zemin on behalf of her sister, Ms. Li Yaping. She and her sister's family were often harassed by the police, causing them to live in constant fear and stress.

Ms. Li Yaping was arrested and detained many times and spent two years in a forced labor camp and four years in prison. The beatings she received caused a comminuted fracture in her left arm. She was forced to do hard labor more than 10 hours a day.

Current Circumstances: Ms. Li Yaping was arrested again on February 15, 2015, and is currently detained at Fuzhou City Second Detention Center. Her arrest was approved on March 23, 2015, and she is facing trial.

Related Report(s): Additional Persecution News from China – February 27, 2015 (6 Reports)

Details of complaint in Chinese

5: Mr. Zhou Kaien (周开恩) and Wife Ms. Zhang Yuzhi (张玉芝)

Profession: Mr. Zhou was formerly a deputy director of the Bazhou District Police Department. The profession of his wife Ms. Zhang is unknown.Hometown: Bazhong City, Sichuan ProvinceDate filed: Recent, date not specified

Key Facts: The couple have been under surveillance since the persecution of Falun Gong began. On March 6, 2015, they were searched by four police officers while they were at a scenic area. The police also took a photo of Mr. Zhou.

During these 16 years, the authorities have heavily restricted their children's movements, which they describe as “worse than imprisonment.”

Details of complaint in Chinese

6: Mr. Gou Yangtian (苟养田) and Wife Ms. Chen Jiuzhen (陈久珍)

Profession: Mr. Gou is a retired Communist Party cadre. The profession of his wife, Ms. Chen, is unknown.Hometown: Bazhong City, Sichuan ProvinceDate filed: Recent, date not specified

Key Facts: After the persecution of Falun Gong started, agents from the 610 Office in Bazhou District broke into the elderly couple's home without producing any identification and seized their Falun Gong books and personal items.

Ms. Chen was arrested and detained for over 10 days in the police department, where he was interrogated day and night by more than 20 agents from the 610 Office. Since then, their home has often been ransacked and their movements and telephone line monitored.

Details of complaint in Chinese

7: Ms. Yang Jianfen (杨建芬) and Husband Mr. Chang Liuke (刘克昌)

Profession: Ms. Yang was formerly a member of the Bazhong committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. The profession of her husband, Mr. Chang, is unknown.Hometown: Bazhong City, Sichuan ProvinceDate filed: Recent, date not specified

Key Facts: Although they have not spent time in a forced labor camp or prison, they have lived in fear for the past 16 years as a result of the persecution.

Details of complaint in Chinese

8: Mr. Deng Jianru (邓建儒)

Profession: Jinbeixiang Township government cadreHometown: Bazhong City, Sichuan ProvinceDate filed: Recent, date not specified

Key Facts: Mr. Deng, 86, was arrested, had his home ransacked, and was fined multiple times for telling people about the persecution of Falun Gong. In 2013, six plainclothes officers broke into his home and took many Falun Gong items and other personal items.

Mr. Deng was taken to the police department and interrogated for eight hours. He was later detained for 30 days, during which time he was tied to a chair and interrogated, threatened, and forced to put his thumbprint over his recorded statement.

After two months, he was sentenced secretly to three years of imprisonment and four years of probation. The sentence turned his son against him. Mr. Deng also became absentminded.

Details of complaint in Chinese

Background

In 1999, Jiang Zemin, as head of the Chinese Communist Party, overrode other Politburo standing committee members and launched the violent suppression of Falun Gong.

The persecution has led to the deaths of many Falun Gong practitioners over the past 16 years. More have been tortured for their belief and even killed for their organs. Jiang Zemin is directly responsible for the inception and continuation of the brutal persecution.

Under his personal direction, the Chinese Communist Party established an extralegal security organ, the 610 Office, on June 10, 1999. The organization overrides police forces and the judicial system in carrying out Jiang's directive regarding Falun Gong: to ruin their reputations, cut off their financial resources, and destroy them physically.

Chinese law allows for citizens to be plaintiffs in criminal cases, and many practitioners are now exercising that right to file criminal complaints against the former dictator.