Lou Gan, one of the most powerful people in China, has had a charge filed against him with the State Attorney today, demanding that he be placed into custody for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners.
Among the silent protestors from the Icelandic chapter of Amnesty International, the yellow colours of Falun Gong could be seen. They protested silently today at noon while Luo Gan had dinner with Bjorn Bjarnason, the Minister for Justice, at the National House of Culture.
Amnesty International representative: “We hope that he will at least see that the Icelandic government and the Icelandic public have an interest in this issue and the man himself, as well as the human rights situation in China. This is our main purpose.”
You can say that Lou Gan has played a trick on the protestors at the Culture House, because after lunch he left from a small back door. And you can say that the suspicion of the Chinese security guards was well exposed since they attempted to stop a State TV cameraman from taking pictures. The Icelandic police ensured that [the Chinese officials] did not succeed. When Lou Gan walked out, a loud shout could be heard, not from a protestor, but from Bjorvin Gudmundsson, a journalist from “Morgunbladid”: “Are you imprisoning Falun Gong members?” He did not receive a reply, but one of the security guards ran towards the journalist.
Minister for Justice Bjorn Bjarnason: “We have reviewed human rights issues, agreements that we as Icelanders have made according to International contracts, and also our Constitutional laws. And I have emphasised my point of view that I consider human rights as absolute laws that you have to consider no matter what kind of ruling system you have. I put this opinion forward, as it is my fundamental standpoint that human rights should not be subject to the form of ruling system in a country, but that you should respect the rights of that person whatever the situation.”
The clients of Supreme Court lawyer Ragnar Adalsteinsson think that the justice systems of Iceland and China are certainly very different. At the state attorney’s office, Ragnar put forward a lawsuit against Lou Gan. This is an unprecedented move, to do this to a high ranking foreign official whilst he visits Iceland. In the lawsuit, it says that Luo Gan is one of three officials in charge of the “610 Office”, an organisation that is responsible for the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, by murder, torture, sexual abuse and other cruel methods. In that respect, Lou Gan has broken international agreements that the Icelandic people abide to.
[Falun Gong practitioner] Li Shao said, “He is really one of the most evil people on Earth at this moment. He has sent over one hundred thousand innocent Chinese people, Falun Gong practitioners, to labour camps without trial. One of them is my wife’s sister, who was thirty years old at the time when she was detained in a labour camp for two years without trial. She suffered torture and was left handcuffed hanging from a door where her feet could hardly touch the floor. Other people in that same labour camp have been tortured to death.”
Journalist to Ragnar: “Are you saying that his stay here will be prolonged if the decision [to proceed further with the lawsuit] is made?”
Ragnar: “I think we must demand him to be placed into custody to prevent him from leaving the country and we should get a court ruling in this respect, because of his short visit, while the investigation is going on.”
The state prosecutor will probably make a decision on this tomorrow.
Chinese version available at http://www.yuanming.net/articles/200309/24117.html
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