Motion Hearing of Historic Lawsuit against Jiang Zemin for Torture

Look here for an update- (Toronto) –A motion will be heard in Ontario Superior Court on Friday July 14, on an important procedural issue in the historic $20 million civil lawsuit against former head of China Jiang Zemin and four other key Chinese officials for torture of Falun Gong practitioners now living in Canada. One of the plaintiffs, Professor Kunlun Zhang, was a Canadian citizen at the time of his detention and torture in China.

The motion is to dispense with the need to serve the defendants with the statement of claim and other court material, on the basis that all possible means of service have been attempted but China has refused to accept the documents. If successful, the plaintiffs will then be able to seek a final judgment against the defendants on the merits of the case.

The hearing comes on the heels of a Canadian independent report released last Thursday that the Chinese government and its agencies have harvested vital organs and put to death large number of Falun Gong prisoners of conscience since 1999.

The Ontario case is one of 54 legal proceedings in 33 countries, against Jiang and other officials. It asserts that the five defendants orchestrated the systematic and brutal persecution of the plaintiffs and hundreds of thousands of other Falun Gong practitioners in China.

Motion Hearing

TIME: 10 am, Friday July 14, 2006

LOCATION: 393 University Avenue ( 6th Floor for Zhang et al. v. Zemin et al.)

CONTACT: Kate Kempton, Olthuis Kleer Townshend, legal counsel, 416-571-6775

Statement by Kunlun Zhang, Canadian Falun Gong practitioner recently released from a Chnese prison