The practitioners charge the former Chinese dictator 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 to live a healthier and happier life, however, was shattered 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 by the communist authorities. Many also saw their families implicated for their belief, while some were also forced to pay huge fines.
The practitioners who filed criminal complaints in Nanchang City include people from all walks of life. The number of cases being filed is increasing every day: 132 practitioners filed 123 cases in just one week alone – from July 10th to 16th.
Overview of selected criminal complaints from Nanchang, Jiangxi Province
Ms Chen Hongmei (陈红梅), civil servant
Ms Chen Hongmei, 46, a former civil servant with the Agricultural Bureau of Nanchang City, filed a criminal complaint against Jiang on June 27th, 2015.
In March 2007, she was arrested by eight police officers, who forced her to sit on a chair against a wall and handcuffed her to the wall, with her hands held up to her ears. They grabbed her hair and bashed her head against the wall. “I was dizzy, and sparks flew before my eyes,” said Ms Chen in her complaint.
She was sentenced to two years of forced labour and detained in the Jiangxi Province Women's Forced Labour Camp.
Guards sealed her mouth with tape, handcuffed her to the upper frame of a double bunk, deprived her of sleep, and stuck her with needles if she closed her eyes, among other torture methods. They also forced her to attend brainwashing sessions.
Ms Wu Chunling (吴春玲)
Ms Wu Chunling, 45, from Lidu Town, Jinxian County, Nanchang City, filed her criminal complaint for herself and on behalf of her deceased mother on June 30th, 2015.
Ms Wu was sentenced to forced labour four times for a total of 9 years. She said that the physical and mental torture was beyond description.
Living conditions in the labour camp were horrible. One room was made into three, and each held two double bunks. It stunk awfully, because practitioners had to eat, use a bucket as a toilet, and do everything inside that small space. She was also held in solitary confinement.
Ms Wu's mother was arrested several times, sentenced to forced labour once, and passed away due to stress and fear. Her grandmother also passed away while she and her mother were detained.
Ms Xie Yanming (谢艳明), web engineer
Ms Xie Yanming, 34, was arrested three times and brutally beaten.
She was arrested for the first time in 2013. Plainclothes officers handcuffed her during interrogation, beat and kicked her violently, bound her ankles with chains, and searched her.
Her second arrest happened in 2015. Officers beat and kicked her and struck her face repeatedly. She was handcuffed behind her back in a police car and forced to kneel down on the floor during transit to the police station.
Policeman Wang Jiaxi (王家熙) grabbed her hair and shone bright light into her eyes. Another policeman shocked her arm with an electric baton. She was tortured late into the night.
Wang Jiaxi hit her with a water bottle while she was eating. He rebuked his subordinate for giving her food and shouted, “You can't eat! I was ordered by Jiang Zemin to arrest you practitioners!”
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 6-10 Office, on June 10th, 1999. The organisation overrides the police 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.