On May 18, the Suwon District Court in South Korea sentenced Wanji Choi, a Chinese national, and Chunsik Choi, an immigrant from China, to eight months imprisonment with two years suspension, and four months imprisonment with two years suspension, respectively.
The two men were charged with “group assault” and “damaging property” during a rally for Quitting the Chinese Communist Party in September 2009 in Seoul.
An official from the Korean Ministry of Justice indicated that convicted foreigners are subject to immediate deportation.
Chinese Consulate Involvement
According to a Sept. 14, 2009, report by The Epoch Times, a rally was held in Ansan City, South Korea, on Sept. 13, 2009, to mark the milestone of 60 million Chinese withdrawing from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
A large group of Chinese, numbering over 100, suddenly showed up. Some carried weapons such as a three-section staff. They attacked whomever they came in contact with, beating participants from human rights groups and Falun Gong practitioners. They also damaged the parade participants’ banners and posters.
Assailants shouted, “It doesn’t matter if it’s a man or woman, just beat anyone who is a Falun Gong practitioner.” “With the support of the Chinese Consulate, we are not afraid of anything, and the Korean police can’t do anything about it.”
More than 10 Falun Gong practitioners were reported injured in the attack.
The assailants continued their violent behavior even after police arrived at the scene and arrested some of them. One man defiantly said, “Detention for more than 10 days does not matter. I’m not afraid of deportation. I am going to call the embassy.” He then made a call on his cell phone to the Chinese Consulate.
Deportation
The assailants were formally indicted on Dec. 28, 2009, by the Ansan branch of the Suwon District Public Prosecutor’s office.
Mr. Kim, a member of a local law firm, said that the Korean prosecutor’s office would normally fine a defendant who has violated laws related to assembly and freedom of speech.
This time, however, the prosecutor pressed a criminal charge against the defendants. “It signaled a strong will of the prosecutor to mete out harsh punishment to anyone who disregards Korean laws,” Mr. Kim said.
In an interview with The Epoch Times, an official from the Exit-Entry Administration Department of the Ministry of Justice spoke of the charge against the Chinese man Wanji Choi. He said, “In this case, the criminal is subject to immediate deportation and cannot stay in Korea.”
Previously, in another incident, two Chinese were deported for attacking Falun Gong practitioners. One of them, Lee Shanchong, was deported shortly after being arrested for attacking a Service Center for Quitting CCP, located at Ansan City.
Wang Hai, another man who attacked Falun Gong practitioners in 2006 right in front of the Chinese Embassy and subsequently hid inside the embassy, was later arrested and deported back to China after having paid damages to the victims.
Justice Welcomed
A spokesperson for the Korean Falun Dafa Association supported the court ruling. “It’s natural that the court found both defendants guilty. We welcome the court ruling,” she said.
“This decision signals to the Chinese Communist regime that exporting violence to attack Falun Gong practitioners is not tolerated [here]. We strongly encourage the [South Korean] government to make use of the mandatory deportation measure toward those who violate [Korean] law and attack Falun Gong practitioners.”
Park In Chae, a representative from the Service Center for Quitting the CCP in Korea said: “The guilty verdict is a big blow to the Chinese communist regime and its embassy. There have been many cases of harassment from pro-communist Chinese in the past when we held events to honor those who quit the CCP or when we helped Chinese people quit the CCP.
“They [the assailants] have believed that with the support from the Chinese Embassy, they have nothing to fear. The verdict given by the court this time should be a warning to them. The violence has since reduced significantly, and these kinds of acts have been fewer recently.”
Lee Seung Jin, one of the plaintiffs who belongs to the New Chinese Human Rights Association, was also pleased about the verdict: “The guilty verdict indicates the Korean law will not tolerate criminal acts by the mob.
“This should also have a big impact on the communist regime that is behind the scenes. They should understand that quitting the CCP is considered a legal and just act in the international community. We hope more Chinese will join the tide of withdrawing from the CCP and its affiliated organizations.”
One of the victims in the case, Dr. Jeong Gi Tae, who is a managing director of a big corporate company, said: “As one of the victims, I believed the guilty verdict is a natural consequence of the crime. The punishment is relatively minor compared with the seriousness of the crime and violence committed. I only hope these thugs will take it as a warning and not do it again.”
Harassment and Attacks
David Gao, chairman of the Global Service Center for Quitting the CCP, told The Epoch Times in a Sept. 18, 2009, interview that whenever the number of people who quit the CCP reaches a new milestone, the service centers and hotlines invariably receive an increase in harassing calls or malicious attacks.
Gao said service centers were established in 2005, and the CCP-related threats have been relentless. He also said that the CCP appears to have been the mastermind behind systematic assaults on service centers in Hong Kong, Switzerland, and Flushing, NY.
The “Quitting the Party” movement began in December 2004 after The Epoch Times published an editorial series called Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, which provides an uncensored history of the CCP never before compiled.
The Nine Commentaries, although banned in China, has inspired tens millions of Chinese people to resign from the Chinese Communist Party. Between 40,000 and 60,000 Chinese people publicly withdraw each day.
September 2009 reports:
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/22490/
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/22656/
Read the original Chinese article: http://epochtimes.com/gb/10/5/19/n2912419.htm
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