State Councilor and Former Chinese Education Minister Sued for Torture and Killing of Teachers and Students

China’s Former Education Minister was summoned before a Tanzanian court for a lawsuit charging her with torture and extra judicial killings.

JOHANNESBURG
(FDI) – A State Councilor and former Minister of Education who utilized the Chinese
education system to indoctrinate teachers and students against Falun Gong – often
inciting violence – has been sued for torture and extra judicial killing in a
Tanzanian court.

The civil suit was filed on July 19th as
the former Minister of Education, Ms. Chen Zhili, was visiting several African
nations. The suit was filed on behalf of Falun Gong practitioners.

Also
on July 19th, Chen was summoned to appear before the Tanzanian court in reference
to the case.

“We request that due process of the law will
take its course, and that justice be done,” said the plaintiffs’ attorney. “This
[suit] we hope will act as a difference against further persecution of peaceful
and compassionate practitioners of Falun Gong.”

The suit is
the latest in a string of lawsuits in over a dozen countries filed against senior
Chinese officials known to have carried out former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin’s
orders to “eradicate Falun Gong.” (news)

Between
1999 and 2003 as Minister of Education, Chen launched a Cultural Revolution-style
campaign throughout China’s education system – including graduate schools, colleges,
high schools, primary schools, and even kindergartens – ordering teaches and students
to undergo “political shaping of thoughts” with respect to Falun Gong.

Amidst
the campaign, teachers and students who practiced Falun Gong were often sent to
brainwashing centers where they underwent psychological and physical torture.

Sixty-one
are known to have died as a result.

“We would like to give
credit to the government, the legal system, and the people of Tanzania for accepting
this lawsuit and enabling justice to be done,” says John Nania, a Falun Gong practitioner
from the U.S. who is assisting with the lawsuit. “It is a historic contribution
to the international community and people in this part of the world can rightly
be proud of this.”

The suit against Chen comes less than a
month after a Falun Gong practitioner was shot in South Africa shortly after arriving
in the country to assist locals in raising awareness about the persecution of
Falun Gong, as well as the particular role of two Chinese officials, Vice President
Zeng Qinghong and Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai, who were visiting South Africa
at the time. (news)

Zeng
and Bo are known to be responsible for murder and torture of Falun Gong practitioners
in China.

For further information: Mr. Jie Liu in South Africa
+27 82 954 3505 or John Nania in the United States, +1-612-237-3232.