(Minghui.org) A total of 45 Falun Gong practitioners from Zoucheng, Shandong Province, filed criminal complaints against Jiang Zemin from May 24 to August 4, according to reports compiled by the Minghui website.

The practitioners charge the former Chinese leader with initiating the brutal suppression of Falun Gong and hold him responsible for the tremendous suffering inflicted upon them by his campaign. The criminal complaints were mailed to the Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate.

Many of these practitioners recounted how Falun Gong returned them to health and gave them a new outlook on life. Their dream of living a healthier and happier life was shattered, however, when Jiang Zemin launched a nationwide campaign to eradicate the practice in 1999.

Simply for refusing to give up their belief, they were arrested, detained, tortured, and had their homes ransacked and personal belongings seized. Many also saw their families implicated for their belief, while some were forced to pay huge fines.

The Zoucheng practitioners who filed criminal complaints include people from all social strata and professions.

Below, we profile a few of them:

Ms. Xie Suying (谢素英), 74, was illegally detained in Zibo Forced Labor Camp in October 1999 and brutally tortured. Guards used four electric batons on her hands and feet at the same time for 15 minutes.

Ms. Zheng Yun (郑云), 64, was arrested and taken to Qianquan Police Station on September 26, 2010. Then she was detained at Zoucheng Detention Center for 28 days and sexually assaulted by female inmates, including drug addicts and prostitutes, instigated by the guards. Guards extorted 20,000 yuan from Ms. Zheng between September 6, 2010 and October 24, 2010.

Ms. Qin Zhen (秦臻) was arrested on February 7, 2007. During the 37 days she was detained, she was forced to do manual labor, such as peeling cloves of garlic by hand, for long periods of time every day. She was detained in Shandong Province Second Forced Labor Camp for one year, starting on March 17, 2007. She was also forced to sit on a small stool for a long time every day for a month.

Ms. Jia Fanying (贾繁英), 53, was arrested on June 27, 2013, and detained for one week. She was arrested again on October 7, 2013, and detained for 24 hours, without any food or drink. She was fingerprinted against her will. The next day, she was transferred to Zoucheng City Detention Center for ten days. After she was released, her husband was implicated, and his employer deducted a total of 6,000 yuan from his pay. She was monitored and threatened as well.

Ms. Niu Weifen (牛维芬), 74, was arrested on June 27, 2013, and again on December 28, 2013. She didn’t get any food or water for nine hours and was repeatedly threatened. She was fingerprinted and photographed against her will. Her 81-year-old husband was threatened by the police and suffered severe anxiety. He passed away on January 1, 2014.

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 during 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.