(Minghui.org) Mr. Zhang Ziyang filed a lawsuit against former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin, for implementing the persecution of Falun Gong and causing him tremendous physical and mental suffering.

Mr. Zhang, who is from Fengcheng City, Liaoning Province, is suing Jiang for the crime of genocide and other crimes against humanity. He has mailed his complaint to the Fengcheng City Procuratorate, and is seeking compensation for financial losses, damage to his reputation, the destruction of his family, and the physical harm caused to his family members.

By his own account, Mr. Zhang was detained four times. He was confined in Dandong Forced Labor Camp for about a year, and had funds extorted from him twice.

He was subjected to brainwashing, force-feeding, and other abuses, including being handcuffed and shackled to a bed and held in a cage for nine days.

Torture illustration: Handcuffed and shackled to a bed (also known as “Nailed to a plank”)

Mr. Zhang became homeless and moved frequently for nearly ten years.

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 some 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 the authority of 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.