NEW SOUTH WALES, Australia – A celebrated artist and human rights advocate is seeking justice for her arrest and imprisonment in China.

Ms. Zhang Cuiying, an Australian citizen and traditional Chinese artist, began the first stages of her lawsuit for torture and genocide against former Chinese president Jiang Zemin in the New South Wales Supreme Court on Friday.

A civil lawsuit filed last September by Ms. Zhang alleged that she was detained and tortured for eight months in Shenzhen City Detention Center for practicing Falun Gong, a peaceful meditation practice that has been brutally repressed in China for the past five years.

The defendants in the case, former Chinese president Jiang Zemin and the Gestapo-like ‘610 Office’ formed by Jiang to incite the persecution of Falun Gong and its adherents have been sued in dozens of similar lawsuits around the world.

The plaintiff submitted evidence that the 610 Office was served with a legal notice via registered mail, but a receipt was not received for the notice to Jiang Zemin. Lawyers for the defendants did not appear at the hearing, and the case has been postponed until Feb. 28 following the plaintiff’s request for further legal consultation.

The lawsuit has met with fierce diplomatic pressure from China. An Australian Foreign Affairs spokesman confirmed that China had raised the case at various levels both in Beijing and Canberra, Australia, claiming the lawsuit is a breach of sovereign immunity.

A representative for Ms Zhang’s Attorney, Elizabeth Higgins, told the media that Jiang Zemin no longer falls under diplomatic immunity since he stepped down as president in 2003.

“Immunity is not a haven for escaping judicial pursuit,” Higgins said at a press conference to announce the progress of the lawsuit. “Nobody should try to be privileged at the same time as going against international law.”

Since filing the lawsuit, Ms. Zhang has come under pressure, including having her house being pelted with eggs.

While detained in China, Ms. Zhang says she was beaten until bruises covered her whole body, chained with 22 lb. shackles that made her ankles bleed and thrown into a cell full of male criminals.

“I could not forget the heart-rending screams of fellow [Falun Gong] practitioners, men and women, elderly and young, when they were being so savagely tortured at the hands of the police under Jiang Zemin’s directive,” she said. “It is for upholding justice that I’m taking Jiang Zemin to court for his grievous violations of human rights and crimes against humanity.”

Ms Zhang’s lawsuit is one of 45 launched by Falun Gong practitioners in 21 countries, alleging torture, genocide or incitement of hatred by numerous high-level Chinese government officials.

According to the Falun Dafa Information Center, more than 1,150 Falun Gong practitioners have been confirmed dead since the crackdown began in July 1999.