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Justice: Chinese Citizen Sued Hubei Government

Tan Jun, a Hubei Citizen, filed a lawsuit against the Hubei Provincial government for concealing the epidemic information and causing the loss of people’s lives and assets. He is the first Chinese who sued the government for its liability for the coronavirus pandemic.

In his filing, Tan said that the Hubei Provincial government had known about the Wuhan Pneumonia epidemic and the person-to-person transmission by December 2020, but it still organized two major political conferences and a “ten thousand family feast” in January, causing the large-scaled, fast spread of the epidemic. Tan asked the Hubei Provincial government to post an apology on Hubei Daily newspaper for a day.

Tan first handed his lawsuit paper to Xiling District Court, Yichang City, Hubei Province on April 13. But he was told the district court does not have authority to process this administrative case. Then on April 15, he mailed it to the Wuhan Intermediate Court.

On the afternoon of April 13, the Domestic Safety Team of the Xiling District Police Department called Tan Jun to a police station, asking him to write a promise statement “not to publish any words or pictures related to the administrative lawsuit case on the Internet.”

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Excerpt in Chinese:

湖北省宜昌市公务员谭军公开起诉湖北省政府隐瞒疫情,导致人民生命财产损失。当日便遭到警方约谈传唤。

谭军在起诉书中指控,湖北省政府在2019年12月既已知道出现武汉肺炎疫情,在知道存在人传人的情况下,仍于2020年1月召开中共两会及组织举行“万家宴”,导致集中感染及疫情快速传播。湖北卫健委2020年1月11日发布的通告称没发现医务人员感染,没有人传人。但国家监察委于3月19日发布的《李文亮医生情况调查通报》承认,武汉肺炎早在2019年12月就有人传人病例。

谭军据此于4月13日上午到宜昌市西陵区法院递交了行政诉状。提出诉讼请求:湖北省政府在《湖北日报》登报道歉一天。但谭军被告知,西陵区法院没有权力审理这起行政诉讼案,需要去武汉市中级法院递交起诉状。谭军于是在4月15日将诉状以邮寄的方式将诉状寄到武汉市中级法院。

就在谭军13日递交行政起诉状的当日傍晚6点左右,宜昌市公安局西陵区分局国保大队将其传唤到辖区派出所。要求谭军写下保证:不得再在网上发布行政诉讼的相关文字、图片等,最后警方表示“可以按法律程序起诉”。

Source: China Citizen Movement, April 17, 2002

湖北公务员谭军起诉政府隐瞒疫情遭传唤