(Minghui.org) A retired Chinese associate professor and Falun Gong practitioner filed a lawsuit against former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Jiang Zemin. She now resides in Boise, Idaho and charges Jiang with launching the persecution of Falun Gong and the suffering that she endured in China as a result.

Ms. Wang Zhuhong, 74, is a retired associate professor from the Electronics and Technology University in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. Jiang's suppression campaign forced her and her husband to flee to the U.S.

In her filing with the Supreme People's Procuratorate, Ms. Wang charges Jiang with violating citizens' freedom of religion and speech, among other crimes.

She stated in her complaint, “I was tortured...Both of my homes [in China] were ransacked. I was illegally detained for 13 days and put in a brainwashing center for 160 days. My husband's company, under the pressure of the '610 Office,' fired him. [This persecution] has caused spiritual and physical damage to me and my family, as well as grave economic losses.”

Detention and Brainwashing

Both Ms. Wang and her husband had several health problems, from which they reportedly recovered after starting to practice Falun Gong in May 1996.

The couple moved from Sichuan to Shenzhen, Guangdong Province in 2002 when Ms. Wang's husband found a new job there.

Their happy life didn't last long. Ms. Wang was arrested on December 9, 2005 for telling a person selling bottled water that she practiced Falun Gong. She was soon released, but police ransacked her home in Shenzhen.

However, the Nanshan District “610 Office” didn't leave the couple alone. The director pressured their landlord to stop renting their apartment to them. He also pressured her husband's company to fire him, costing them her husband's annual salary of 120,000 yuan.

The “610 Office” drove them out of Shenzhen and sent them back to Chengdu on December 29, 2005.

Chengdu police broke into their home on June 19, 2008 and arrested Ms. Wang. She was first detained at the Chengdu Municipal Detention Center for 13 days, where did not receive enough food. She was put in a crowded room with 30 people and only one toilet.

Ms. Wang was transferred to Xinjin Brainwashing Center, Chengdu on July 3, 2008. Two inmates watched her around the clock. She was forced to watch vulgar TV programs. She was frequently scolded and would be beaten if caught trying to do the Falun Gong exercises. Torture made her unable to sleep through the night.

In hindsight, she suspects that she was poisoned while in the brainwashing center. One night, she suddenly had difficulty breathing and didn't dare to lie down. She had to prop herself up. Each breath was a struggle. Her condition didn't improve until a few days later.

Ms. Wang was released after 160 days. Right after she returned home, she suddenly felt dizzy and experienced chest pain. She couldn't keep food down and lost more than 30 pounds in a short period of time. She again suspected that the brainwashing center had put something in her food before her release.

Ms. Wang and her husband came to the U.S. to stay with their daughter to avoid the persecution in China.

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 in 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.