Facts
On 20 July 1999, Jiang Zemin allegedly started a campaign of persecution against Falun Gong practitioners, which ultimately led to attempts to exterminate them.
Estimates suggest that more than 200,000 practitioners have been tortured and killed as part of this campaign of hatred.
Procedure
Four criminal complaints against high-ranking Chinese officials (Bo Xilai, Luo Gan, Jia Qinglin, Wu Guanzheng and Jiang Zemin) were brought before the Spanish National Court (Audiencia Nacional, Sala de lo penal) between 2003 and 2007 for the crimes of genocide and torture committed against almost 80 millions Falun Gong (Falun Dafa) practitioners.
Criminal complaints were admitted by the Second Chamber of the Spanish Supreme Court on 20 June 2006 and by the Constitutional Court on 22 October 2007, providing for one single investigation. This investigating phase gathered witnesses and victims’ declarations, UN Human Rights Commission’s reports, Kilgour–Matas Report and other reports by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
The modification of the law constraining the application of universal jurisdiction in Spain led to the closing of the case. An appeal was launched on 30 July 2015 before the Constitutional Court. In 2019, the Constitutional Court rejected the appeal.