By Nicole Azzopardi
February 28, 2005
From AAP
A SYDNEY woman
allegedly imprisoned and tortured for eight months in China will be a test case
for the Australian court system, the president of a Falun Gong group said today.
Bankstown
artist Zhang Cuiying, 42, today launched civil action in the New South Wales Supreme
Court against former Chinese president Jiang Zemin and his "610 Office"
– or Chinese Falun Gong control office – alleging they were responsible
for her torture at a Chinese detention centre.
Ms Zhang said she was arrested
in March 2000 for speaking out against Mr Jiang’s persecution of Falun Gong practitioners,
and spent eight months in prison before the Australian Government intervened to
have her freed.
According to documents filed with the court, Ms Zhang claims
she was punched, slapped and kicked by Chinese police on one occasion, and hit
with a hard object on another, causing her face to bleed.
On March
6, 2000, Ms Zhang alleged she was driven to the Shang Meilin Detention Centre
in Shenzhen, where she "suffered inhuman treatment and torment" during
two periods of detention.
Ms Zhang alleged that prison guards on one occasion
during her detention stripped off her clothes in front of a closed circuit camera.
Ms
Zhang appeared briefly in the Supreme Court today with the matter stood over to
a date yet to be set.
Falun Dafa Association president John Deller said
Ms Zhang’s civil case was the first of its type in Australia and was an important
step towards convicting the former head of the Chinese Communist Party.
"It’s
a real test for everyone involved," Mr Deller said.
"It’s a test
for the legal system, it’s a test for Falun Gong practitioners who support this
righteous action, it’s a test for the Australian Government, it’s a test for the
Australian people.
"We realise it’s rare, I don’t think there has been
such a prominent human rights abuser or prominent leader of a foreign power being
sued in Australia before, but it’s an extraordinary situation that is happening
to Falun Gong practitioners … we just have to work through the legal processes.
"(Jiang
Zemin) is not a current head of state so he shouldn’t have immunity on that basis."
The
Australian case was one of 46 lawsuits filed against Mr Jiang in 26 countries,
Mr Deller said said.
NSW Greens Senator Ian Cohen said he congratulated
Ms Zhang’s actions.
"I commend your efforts in the court … I commend
your patience and tolerance," he said.
"Torture, humiliation and
domination by a rigid state should be something that should be left behind as
we did in the last century."
Posting date: 28/Feb/2005
Original
article date: 28/Feb/2005
Category: Media Report
