(Minghui.org) A Kuilehe Town resident died in 2010 while serving 4 years for refusing to renounce Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime.

Mr. Zhou Jian’s wife, Ms. Tian Xiuying, filed a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin five years after her husband’s death. She holds the former Chinese dictator responsible for launching the persecution of Falun Gong that claimed Mr. Zhou’s life.

Mr. Zhou, 61, became a target after the persecution began in 1999. He was arrested five times between 2000 and 2002, simply for holding firm to his faith. Each time he was detained from 15 to 45 days.

The local police seized Mr. Zhou again on May 8, 2007. They released him on medical parole 15 days later, when he suddenly developed a heart ailment.

Mr. Zhou was taken back into custody five months later and sentenced to 4 years in prison in January 2008.

While serving time at Baoanzhao Prison, Mr. Zhao had a relapse of his heart problem on multiple occasions.

Ms. Tian was on her way to prison on May 31, 2010 when she received a phone call from a prison official named Xu Jindi, who told her that Mr. Zhou was once again hospitalized.

Mr. Zhou had already stopped breathing when Ms. Tian rushed to the hospital. She suspects that prison abuse and lack of proper medical treatment may have contributed to her husband’s sudden death. The prison, however, refused to order an autopsy or offer an explanation of the cause of death.

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 over the past 17 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 “610 Office,” on June 10, 1999. The organization overrides police forces 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.