"Gazet van Antwerpen" (Belgian newspaper): Citizen of Ghent Submits Complaint Against China

Brussels – Six members of the Chinese Falun Gong-movement have filed a complaint on Wednesday against the former Chinese head of state Jiang Zemin and two other leaders based on genocide, crimes against humanity and torture. The federal prosecutor has to decide if the complaint is entitled to proceed. The lawyer of the plaintiffs, Georges-Henri Beauthier, hopes for a decision around mid-September. Members of the Falun Gong movement are focusing on Jiang Zemin because he has ‘forged and directed a plan that intended to eliminate Falun Gong in China’. Amongst the six plaintiffs there is a Belgian citizen and a Chinese national, who has resided in Belgium for more then three years. This connection with Belgium is necessary for the lawsuit to proceed. The Belgian, Matthias Slaats, is an IT-operator who was detained for two days in Beijing in February 2002 when he intended to go to Tiananmen-square to unfold a banner in support of Falun Gong.