---

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Item 1501 • Posted: Wednesday December 11, 2002  

---

AFP, Dec. 7, 2002
http://www.expatica.com/

PARIS, Dec 7 (AFP) - Four followers of the banned Falungong spiritual group have launched legal action in France against the Chinese Vice Premier Li Lanqing, accusing him of torture, their lawyers said Saturday.

The four plaintiffs, who include one French national, accuse Li of responsibility for “Office 610″, a government agency that has severely suppressed the outlawed religious sect.

The complaint was lodged in the southern French city of Nice, which Li had been due to see last month during a state visit to France, the plaintiffs’ lawyers William Bourdon and Georges-Henri Beuthier said.

The lawyers said the complaint was based on the UN Convention Against Torture, which France signed in 1984 and which allows it to arrest and prosecute any person guilty of torture.

Beauthier told AFP he had gathered “overwhelming testimony” about the activities of “Office 610″.

“It is the first time in Europe that a Chinese leader has faced such a complaint,” he added.

He said he hoped a magistrate to investigate the case and come to the conclusion that Li could have been arrested during his visit to France, which included a meeting with President Jacques Chirac.

The Buddhist-based Falungong organisation has long complained that practitioners who are sentenced to labor camps face torture and abuse on a daily basis.

Many practitioners have died in labour camps from excessive forced labor, torture, abuse, lack of adequate nutrition, medical attention, or a combination of these factors, the group said.

The causes of their deaths are routinely concealed and deceptively attributed to “natural causes” in an attempt by officials to escape responsibility for murder, it says.

China banned Falungong as an “evil cult” in 1999 and has since jailed or detained tens of thousands of its practitioners.

---

What You Can Do From Here

---

Read More Articles On These Topics Categories: Falun Gong Share, Blog, or Email This Article Subscribe Religion News Blog RSS feed [What is this?] RSS by topic: Falun Gong Read Another Article Previous entry: Kaohsiung mayor believes in fraudulent cult leader Next entry: French Muslims join under one group RNB Homepage with latest headlines Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults Find Related Books Falun Gong Most Popular Today Decision expected this week on whether parents will face trial in faith healing death Church tries Goth Liturgy Ganas commune co-founder sues current and former members Los Angeles pastor used church credit cards for personal expenses Judge allows reckless homocide charges in faith healing death of Madeline Neumann Japan: Security agency calls for extension of surveillance of Aum cult Mormon church publishes journal of founder Joseph Smith Exclusive Brethren an evil, corrupt cult, court told Author believes Tom Cruise pressured Amazon to stop selling book critical of Scientology

---

Share This Article

---

To share this page simply copy and paste one of these URL's:

• Post a link on your blog or website:
  
• Send in an email or IM:
  
• Post on a forum:
  

Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support.

Note: results are listed on another domain -- CounterCultSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.

Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs.

Note: results are listed on another domain -- ApologeticsSearch.com -- from which you can easily return here.