Irish Court Refuses To Assert Universal Jurisdiction Over Alleged Chinese Persecutor of Falun Gong

Ireland's Central Criminal Court last week held that it lacked jurisdiction to issue an arrest warrant for Li Changchun, a high ranking Chinese Communist Party official who was visiting Ireland for two days on his way to Iran. Yesterday's Epoch Times reported that a criminal complaint was filed in Ireland against Li by several Falun Gong practitioners who charged that Li, as Secretary General of the Party of Guangdong Province and the Politburo Standing Committee Propaganda and Media Officer, played a key role in the persecution of Falun Gong in China. Petitioners attempted to assert universal jurisdiction, charging that Li was linked to crimes of torture, extra-judicial killing, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and genocide.