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Exclusive: Son defies intimidation to sue Chinese government over father’s Covid-19 death in landmark case

蘋果日報 2020/06/22 08:18


The son of a PLA veteran who died from Covid-19 says he’s pushing ahead with a landmark legal case against Chinese officials who he blames for covering up the virus epidemic, in spite of intimidation from the government.
“My father was killed, and I won't let the culprits escape justice, no matter who they are," Zhang Hai, 51, said in an exclusive interview with Apple Daily.

Zhang is seeking 2 million yuan (US$283,000) compensation for his father’s death in February. He filed the claim on June 10 in the Wuhan Intermediate People's Court. A week later, court officials gave him a verbal notice that the court would not accept the case.
Zhang said state surveillance and intimidation won’t deter him from pursuing the case, which would make him the first person to date in China to seek damages from the government for a death from Covid-19.
Zhang recounted that his father, a retired soldier suffering from dementia, fell in his home in Shenzhen in mid-January but had to be taken to Wuhan — where the military unit he once served was located — for free treatment.

Zhang said the hospital in Wuhan did not tell him anything about the coronavirus which was already rampaging through the city, with patients overwhelming local hospitals. He said he would never have taken his father to Wuhan had he known about the epidemic.

On January 23, three days after his father had an operation, doctors said he had a fever and might have caught the coronavirus. Zhang's father tested positive a week later and died on Feb. 1 at the age of 76.

"I wasn't told that my father had been transferred to the quarantine ward where they treated coronavirus patients until just a few hours before he passed away," Zhang said.

Some Chinese lawyers have set up a legal aid group to help families who lost loved ones to Covid-19. The group has received inquiries from relatives of about 20 victims, but only Zhang has so far decided to sue the government.

The authorities have been monitoring those who contacted the legal team, Zhang said, adding that many received calls from the police warning them not to take the matter further.

Zhang said he is taking a stand against the officials who he says covered up the situation in Wuhan. “I won't stop until those responsible are punished,” he said.
“What's the use of the law if it can't deliver justice?"
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