New Delhi: A suit has been filed in a Texas District Court in the United States seeking compensatory damages of over 20 trillion US dollars against China for the ‘creation and release, accidental or otherwise’ of the Novel Coronavirus as a biological weapon in violation of China’s International obligations.
The plaint alleged that there is sufficient indication that the Coronavirus was released recklessly from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in the city of Wuhan, Hubei province leading to the ‘bioweapon’ eventually affected the citizens of the United States.
‘This is a complaint for damages and equitable relief arising out of the creation and release, accidental or otherwise, of a variation of coronavirus known as COVID-19 by the People’s Republic of China and its agencies and officials as a biological weapon in violation of China’s agreements under international treaties,’ the complaint said.
The plaintiffs argued that in effect, the new Coronavirus is a terrorist-related weapon of mass destruction of population centres.
The lead plaintiffs in the class action suit are Buzz Photos, whose business was affected following the standstill occasioned by the Coronavirus pandemic, a a non-profit corporation, Freedom Watch Inc and an individual from Florida, Larry Klazman.
‘COVID-19 was designed by China to be a very ‘effective’ and catastrophic biological warfare weapon to kill mass populations… there are many indications besides the nature of the disease demonstrating that the virus was engineered in the Chinese military’s laboratory or laboratories,’ the plaintiffs said.
The virus, which first originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has spread 189 countries or territories, infected more than 334,000 people and killed over 14,500, as per the latest data available on the World Health Organisation website.
The plaintiffs pointed to reports concerning the Chinese Government’s efforts to silence doctors in Wuhan and throughout China from disclosing any information about the new disease initially.
‘Those, including doctors and researchers, trying to spread the word in China about the new COVID-19 disease were arrested or ‘disappeared’,’ they said.
The plaintiffs also highlighted reports that a prominent Chinese health professional – Major General Chen Wei – attempted to self-inject an untested vaccine, in an alleged attempt to contain the Coronavirus outbreak.
The plaintiffs also referred to reports where the Chinese Government linked efforts to prevent such future threats to strengthening the security of biological laboratories.
‘China’s military and national leadership clearly linked the origins and spread of COVID-19 with safety protocols and containment at China’s biomedical microbiology laboratories,’ the plaint stated.
Citing an opinion published by The Hill, the plaintiffs contended that the theory has been endorsed by experts. ‘Many reputable people and organizations and experts have thus come to the conclusion that this crisis began when a Chinese biological weapons facility accidentally released the COVID-19 virus into the atmosphere.’
The plaintiffs cited various causes of action to sue the Chinese Government for the viral outbreak, including aiding and abetting the risk of death or serious bodily injuries to US citizens, provision of material support to terrorists, conspiracy to case injuring and even death of US Citizens, negligence and wrongful death.
On these grounds, the plaintiffs have sought an award of damages ‘in excess of 20 trillion US Dollars and such other relief the Court may deem just and proper’.
