Holland: Trial in The Hague - Criminal's Claim to Practise Falun Gong Dismissed as False by Court Experts

In October 2006, a tragedy in which a mental patient of Chinese origin chopped up and cooked his victim’s body took place in Alphen ann de Rijn. The case began at The Hague Court last week and a sentence was expected to be declared on June 22nd. Recently, the media started to follow the case with interest. Without having investigated and verified the case, Singtao Daily, on June 11th, 2007, and China and Holland Business on June 15th, 2007 ,reported that the murderer (G.L.L) had something to do with practising Falun Gong.

Ms.Vermeulun, the editor of ANP who was the first to report the case, Mr. de Koning, the official of Public Relations of Pieter Bann Centre where the suspect is detained and Mr. Ton, the detective of the Dutch Police who was in charge of investigating the case have all expressed that the suspect was a mental patien and not a Falun Gong practitioner and therefore what he had done had nothing to do with Falun Gong. In addition, Leidsch Dagblad, a Dutch newspaper, also reported that the suspect had nothing to do with Falun Gong.

On June 7th, 2007, ANP was the first one to report the case. In this first report, they mentioned that the suspect was a Falun Gong practitioner. But when they got to know from the Falun Gong practitioners that the suspect claimed himself to be a Falun Gong practitioner and in fact he was not a real one. In a few hours later, they corrected their report by clearly pointing out that the suspect only claimed himself to be a Falun Gong practitioner, but, in the eye of the specialists, neither was he a Falun Gong practitioner nor his act had anything to do with Falun Gong. Most media in the Netherlands reprinted the second report of ANP. In fact, all the media have clearly pointed out that the suspect was diagnosed as schizophrenic by specialists.

In order to seek evidence, the reporter telephoned Ms. Vermeulun, the editor of ANP. When asked if the suspect was a Falun Gong practitioner, Ms. Vermeulun answered, “No, he is not. He claimed himself to be. But he is a mental patient. What he said is not reliable and what he had done has nothing to do with Falun Gong. ”

The Pieter Bann Centre, where the suspect is detained, is the place and clinic where the mental criminals are detained and observed and belongs to the Netherlands Institute of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology under the jurisdiction of the Netherlands. Mr. de Koning is an official of the Public Relations of the Pieter Bann Centre and also a spokesman in charge of the case.

Mr. de Koning expressed that it was true that the suspect had been diagnosed as schizophrenic. He also said, “He claimed himself to be a Falun Gong practitioner. But, as far as I know, he has never been a member of Falun Gong.”

Finally, Mr. de Koning suggested that those who wanted to know whether or not the case had anything to do with Falun Gong should better wait for the judgement by the judge on June 22nd and look for the answer from the judgement.

Mr. Ton, the detective of the Dutch Police in charge of the case had spent months investigating the case, in which he is regarded as an expert who has a say. He told the reporter, “The case has nothing to do with Falun Gong because the suspect is a mental patient and a schizophrenic.”