A group representing Malaysian Falun Gong practitioners have filed a suit against a Chinese embassy official in Kuala Lumpur and a local Chinese language daily for libel - four months after the same defendants faced another similar suit by a New York-based television station.

Malaysian Falun Dafa Research Centre (FDRC) and its 17 practitioners have named Chinese embassy media officer Sun Xiang Yang and Sin Chew Daily as defendants in a suit filed with the Kuala Lumpur High Court yesterday. No mention date has been fixed.

According to FDRC, Sun had issued a media statement on Feb 17 and later published by Sin Chew alleging that the New York-based New Tang Dynasty television station (NTDTV) was aligned with international qigong movement Falun Gong.

He also described the movement as a cult and urged the people not to surf the NTDTV website "in order not to be cheated".

The plaintiffs seek the court's declaration that the statement published by Sin Chew was defamatory and asked for an injunction to restrain the defendants from publishing similar statements in future.

"We decided not to claim for damages in the statement of claim as damages are not the pursuit of practitioners," said FDRC chairperson Yong Sang when met later.

"Legal action is taken for upholding justice and clarifying the truth of FDRC to the public," he added.

RM100 million suit

In July, the NTDTV filed a RM100 million suit against Sun and Sin Chew for libel over the same article carried in the vernacular daily.

Falun Gong or Falun Dafa reportedly has 100 million followers all over the world. The movement has been branded by the Chinese government as an 'evil cult' and a threat to its national security.

According to international rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW), in China alone, Falun Gong practitioners number around 70 million. Among the members are labourers, professionals and even Chinese Communist Party leaders.

However, Falun Gong followers around the world have faced obstacles and difficulties in associating with the movement due to the diplomatic pressure exerted by the Chinese government.

Registered with ROC

HRW's report says that besides being harassed by police and local authorities, Falun Gong practitioners are also prohibited from holding demonstrations in front of Chinese embassies in their countries to protest the Chinese government's crackdown on the movement in China.

According to Yong, Falun Gong practitioners in Malaysia number between three to four hundreds. FDRC is registered with the Registrar of Companies.

FDRC has sent a memorandum to the Chinese embassy in Malaysia in June, urging the Chinese government to end its persecution against its followers in China.

In January this year, FDRC was warned by the then deputy home affairs minister Chor Chee Heung to stop "interfering in China's affairs or face the consequences".

Chor added that the government was closely monitoring the movement in Malaysia as it could serve as a "launchpad to go against the Chinese government".