(Minghui.org) Jiang Zemin, former dictator of the Chinese Communist Party, has been sued by Ms. Wu Lihua and 15 other Falun Dafa practitioners from Anqing City, Anhui Province.

The suit, which was sent to the Supreme Procuratorate, accuses Jiang of deprivation of civil liberty, deprivation of freedom of belief, deprivation of personal liberty and property, intentional assault, and torture, among other crimes.

Location of Anqing Prefecture within Anhui Province, China. (Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons)

Jiang Zemin, as head of the Chinese Communist Party, overrode other Politburo Standing Committee members and launched the brutal persecution of Falun Dafa in 1999.

Under his personal direction, the Chinese Communist Party established an extralegal security organ, the 610 Office, on June 10, 1999. The organization overrides police forces and courts in carrying out Jiang's directives regarding Falun Dafa: 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.

Persecution of Ms. Wu Lihua

Since the persecution started, Ms. Wu, 55, has been subjected to three brainwashing sessions, detention at the provincial forced labor camp, and two criminal detentions. The latest brainwashing session occurred on April 14, 2014, and lasted 14 days.

The local Domestic Security Division and residential committee have been harassing Ms. Wu on a weekly basis ever since. The persecution has caused financial losses and stress to her family. As a result, her husband has lost over 60 pounds.

Anqing is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Anhui Province, in eastern China. The persecution has caused deaths and torn apart many families among its population of five million.

Persecution of Mr. Rui Xiaolin

Mr. Rui Xiaolin

Mr. Rui Xiaolin was the first reported death of a Falun Dafa practitioner in Anqing City. He was an engineering official at Anqing City's Water Conservation Department. In January 2002, Mr. Rui went to Beijing for the third time to petition for the restoration of Falun Dafa's reputation. He was illegally arrested and sent to the Nanhu Forced Labor Camp.

On the day of his arrest, Mr. Rui held a hunger strike to protest the persecution. The police tied him up and brutally force-fed him. He died as a result of torture in early June 2002, at the age of 39.

Minghui has also reported on various brainwashing facilities in Anqing, including the city's residence for retired Communist Party cadres (latest reported brainwashing activity in 2007) and Longting Commercial Hotel (latest reported brainwashing activity in 2010).

The 16 Falun Dafa practitioners in Anqing who are suing Jiang Zemin are: Ms. Wu Lihua, Ms. Si Shuxian, Ms. Miu Yufang, Ms. Wu Huilan, Ms. Wang Naiyun, Mr. Wu Youfa, Ms. An Yuqin, Ms. Ge Yi, Ms. Tian Guixiang, Ms. Fang Cuichun, Ms. Yu Qiuying, Ms. Hu Chunhuan, Ms. Wang Chuanying, Ms. Chenfang, Ms. Chen Lingli, and Mr. Dai Jianxiang.