Nine Sentenced for Illegal Assembly

Albert Ho and Martin Lee before hearing their fate today

 

Another dark day, Black Friday, whatever you want to call it.

Nine pro-democracy activists, former lawmakers, esteemed lawyers and a newspaper founder were sentenced today for organizing and participating in an illegal assembly on August 18, 2019.

Hong Kong's "Father of democracy" Martin Lee Chu-ming, 83, was handed a suspended sentence of 11 months along with fellow lawyer and former Democratic Party chairman Albert Ho Chun-yan, 69. Sixty-seven-year-old Leung Yiu-chung also got a suspended sentence of eight months.

Jimmy Lai faces two more NSL charges

Media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, 73, was sentenced to 14 months in jail and was further indicted on two charges for violating the national security law, of conspiracy to commit subversion, and obstructing justice.

Lee Cheuk-yan, 64, a former lawmaker who also organizes the annual Tiananmen candlelight vigil, will also serve a dozen months in jail, 65-year-old "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung 18 months, 33 year-old Au Nok-hin 10 months, and 66-year-old Cyd Ho Sau-lan, eight months.

Another highly-regarded lawyer Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee, 73, also received a suspended sentence of 12 months, but not before giving an impassioned speech to the court, defending her right to demonstrate.

"When the people, in the last resort, had to give collective expression to their anguish and urge the government to respond, protected only by their expectation that the government will respect their rights, I must be prepared to stand with them, stand by them and stand up for them," she said.

District Judge Amanda Woodcock said the accused had consciously broken the law during the anti-government protests in 2019 which she described was "as relentless as it was violent and disturbing".

The ironic thing about the August 18, 2019 assembly was that it was very peaceful. It was also very wet that day.

Cyd Ho and Lee Cheuk-yan before sentencing

But the judge did not consider this.

"The procession posed a direct challenge to the police and therefore law and order... Taking into account the prevailing circumstances in Hong Kong at the time, a procession of that size posed an inherent latent risk to possible violence," Judge Woodcock said.

"A term of immediate imprisonment was the only appropriate sentencing option."

Previously sentences for illegal assembly were fines of a few thousand dollars or a few weeks in jail.  

But these jail sentences send a terrifying signal that even moderates are punished for advocating peaceful protests.

"It's excessive, entirely out of proportion. What have they done to deserve such severe punishments?" said Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung, a former lawmaker to the New York Times. "It was a peaceful demonstration for the public to display people's discontent. All these political leaders have done was walking with the people." 

1.7M protested in the rain August 18, 2019

Human rights advocates denounced the sentences as unlawful.

"These convictions are a violation of international aw, which states that participating in and organizing peaceful assembles does not require prior permission by the state," said Yamini Mishra, Amnesty International's director for the Asia-Pacific region. "All those sentenced today should be immediately released and their record expunged."

But the Hong Kong government will not listen to these comments; ever since the national security law was implemented last July, the ability to protest has been shut down completely, giving the public no outlet to voice their dissatisfaction with the government.

It has come to the point where people are voting with their feet -- to stay or go. 

The Times have reported 3,000 Hongkongers a week are applying for visas using their British National Overseas passport. So far 35,000 have applied for the five-year scheme.

The number of people who have applied within the first 10 weeks is more than one-tenth of the 300,000 the British government is expecting in five years, meaning it may have underestimated demand...

Seven Convicted in Illegal Assembly

Some 1.7 million people protested on August 18, 2019

Seven pro-democracy activists, former lawmakers, lawyers and a newspaper owner were convicted of organizing and taking part in an unauthorized anti-government protest on August 18, 2019.

They include Apple Daily tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, veteran opposition campaigner Martin Lee Chu-ming, and former lawmakers Lee Cheuk-yan, and Cyd Ho Sau-lan. 

After the march started, the rain poured down

I just reread my post from that day, where an estimated 1.7 million people came out. It suddenly started pouring with rain, and everyone had their umbrellas out but we were still wet from water dripping from other umbrellas. The heaving crowd inched its way from Tin Hau to Causeway Bay and then to Central.

It was a peaceful march, no tear gas, no destruction, just a lot of people walking in the rain.

And yet these seven people were arrested, charged and convicted.

Prosecutors said the seven accused turned an approved assembly into an illegal one on the pretext of crowd control, while the defense argued they were merely leading the rally participants out of the park to alleviate overcrowding.

Judge Amanda Woodcock found there was no need to disperse hundreds of thousands of people from Victoria Park in the form of a procession, as there was no evidence that exit routes were in accessible or problematic, or that the park was so overcrowded that a stampede or risk of serious injuries was imminent.

Martin Lee and Albert Ho at the courthouse

She said the seven inequivocally intended to stage the illegal event, as evidenced by them carrying a banner and shouting slogans as they walked out of the park.

"I am sure this public procession was not about dispersal of crowds. That was a description used to defy the law and circumvent the ban. This intention was vocalized repeatedly and publicly days before the public meeting. It was only a dispersal plan in name, and the truth is it was a planned unauthorized assembly," Woodcock wrote in her 89-page judgment.

As for those 100 police officers who prevented the crowd from leaving the park and then made them inch along the way, then suddenly disappeared, Woodcock agreed with the commanding officers testifying in court that far from neglecting their duties, police were being "prudent" as they hoped to minimize the risk of violence or confrontation that day.

The judge found the protest march caused serious traffic disruption -- but it was a Sunday and every weekend before that there were protests in the area, and she rejected the argument the seven had a reasonable excuse for their acts because the protest was peaceful.

Margaret Ng was also one of seven convicted

"It cannot be right that to arrest and prosecute is disproportionate in this case because no actual violence broke out. That would give the law no teeth and make a mockery of it," she wrote.

The seven will be sentenced on April 16 and could face up to five years in prison. 

Eighty-two-year-old Martin Lee, who usually has something to say after a court case, was uncharacteristically silent as he left the West Kowloon courthouse, while Cyd Ho of the Labour Party said she was "disappointed" by the verdict, saying the case reflected the erosion of freedom of speech and expression.

"The collapse of Hong Kong's political regime will [cause it to] become a hotbed for corruption," she said.

Samuel Chu, the managing director of the Washington-based Hong Kong Democracy Council said of the convictions: "This trial was also about the long history, legacy and contributions of the elder statesmen and women of the movement. It is about discrediting their lifetime contributions to Hong Kong, to the movement, to workers, to grassroots, to individuals and their professions."

This is the first time Martin Lee has been convicted and will be sent to jail. 

How does the man who helped draft the Basic Law, who was trying to find a peaceful path towards democracy in China get thrown in jail?

It is a terrible sign that even moderates are too much of a threat to Beijing and must be silenced. There is no other way. 

Lai also faces a national security law charge

The seven convicted:

Martin Lee Chu-ming

Jimmy Lai Chee-ying

Cyd Ho Sau-lan

Lee Cheuk-yan

Albert Ho Chun-yan

Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee

Leung Kwok-hung

(Au Nok-hin and Leung Yiu-chung pleaded guilty earlier)

Lam Expresses Gratitude for Electoral Reform

Lam's jacket matches the colour of the English words today

 

It was Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor's turn today to put her spin on the electoral reforms decided by the National People's Congress. 

Fresh from her trip to Beijing, Lam addressed reporters this morning and expressed her gratitude to the central government for its "timely, lawful and constitutional move" to take the lead in "plugging the loopholes" in the existing electoral system, saying the city did not have the power to change it on its own.

Did the Basic Law have "loopholes" in it?

"The first one is the enactment and implementation of the national security law... The second is now we are improving the electoral system by making sure whoever is governing and administering Hong Kong in the future is somebody who loves the country, who loves Hong Kong," she said.

Did the electoral process need plugging loopholes? If so then the blame should be on Martin Lee Chu-ming, one of the architects of the Basic Law. He and the Basic Law Drafting Committee thought of every conceivable situation, but probably not of the NPC completely overhauling the electoral system. 

It seemed to have worked fine for 23 years, but for Beijing it's not enough to have that slim opportunity for the pan-democrats to possibly influence the make-up of the election committee, but now to make it completely impossible for there to be any kind of opposition.

Lam went on to say how the city is safe from "black-shirted rioters" and if all goes according to plan then perhaps Hong Kong will have universal suffrage in voting for the chief executive. 

There's no point in trying to dangle that carrot in front of Hongkongers. They know what is going on.

Legco will only be filled with "patriots" now

When Lam was asked about how there could be any room for the pan-democrats to function in this space, she didn't think there was any bias.

"The improvements to the electoral system in HKSAR are not designed to favour someone [in the pro-establishment camp]. They are designed to ensure that whoever is administrating Hong Kong is patriotic, and this is only right in terms of political ethics," Lam said, adding it was "inconceivable" for someone who was governing to be unpatriotic.

Patriotic is the key word which will eliminate a lot of people from running for the Legislative Council. 

But Lam insisted the authorities were not targeting the pan-democrats, adding that those "who do not love the country and Hong Kong undermine the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong, challenge the authority of the central government, and collude with foreign powers to impose sanctions on the country and Hong Kong".

She also urged the public to stop describing the dichotomy of pan-democrats and pro-establishment politicians, saying that the latter could be "democratic".

Lam says pro-establishment can be "democratic"

This is the environment Hong Kong is in now, where something is called black is actually white. 

Lam insisted the changes were legal and said there were no "so-called international standard of democracy", that each country has its own kind of democracy depending on its situation.

The spinning she does is that of a stern headmistress who is commanding her students to use new vocabulary from now on even though it's wrong.

Welcome to Hong Kong's new normal, where it gets incrementally worse on a daily basis.

CY Leung Hungry for a Power Grab

Leung wants to spar with Lam over chief executive elections

 

After Leung Chun-ying stepped down as chief executive in 2017 citing family reasons, and was rewarded with the title of vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Consultative Conference -- China's top political advisory body -- most of us assumed he would go off to Beijing and climb further up the ranks.

But the past week Leung, known as a "cunning wolf", has revealed his claws and is taking swipes at his successor and former chief secretary, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.

Every CE has been elected by a committee

Does he really want to be CE again?

God help us.

On January 18, Leung suggested Hong Kong's next leader did not have to be voted on by an electoral committee, but rather through consultation.

He cited Article 45 of the Basic Law that said the chief executive "shall be selected by election or through consultations", and that if the next leader was chosen through the latter process, it would still be legal and the British government could not complain about it.

The following day Lam hit back, saying all previous chief executives had been chosen through an electoral process since 1997.

"I think whether it is from the perspective of historical development, or the social effects of an election, it's better for the chief executive to be elected," she said.

Over 600,000 took part in the July primaries

Currently Hong Kong's chief executive is chosen by an election committee of 1,200 people, not one person, one vote, which triggered the 2014 Occupy Movement.

Interestingly when Lam was chief secretary, she spearheaded an effort to have the chief executive elected by popular ballot by 2017. That did not happen after the 79-day protest.

Meanwhile Leung wrote on his Facebook that the opposition camp's close ties with the United States made him question the necessity of a chief executive election.

"What's the actual situation in Hong Kong in recent years? The major politicians from the opposition camp have refused to recognize their roots... or have even asked the American government to sanction Hong Kong," he wrote.

"If this actual situation causes a puppet of the American government to be elected as chief executive, do we still want an election?"

Leung has some twisted thinking the US would influence the Hong Kong chief executive election, but why would he worry about that when all the members of the Election Committee are pro-Beijing?

The NSL has led to arrest of ex-lawmakers

He continued his campaign again this week, claiming the opposition still had a chance of winning more seats in the Election Committee when the pan-democrats have been completely decimated in the Legislative Council, last September's elections were postponed because of the pandemic, and the national security law led to the arrest of many former lawmakers for taking part in last July's primaries.

In addition, Leung seemed to believe pro-democracy people were becoming more politically involved in the governing bodies of professional groups, such as the Bar Association and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

"Forgive me for saying this, but the [candidates] are all anti-establishment, not just pro-democracy," he said. "All professional bodies seem to be like this, and you can say that the silent majority just won't come out."

Asked to comment about Leung's latest argument, Lam did not want to argue with her predecessor in the media, and that his suggestion would require changes to the Basic Law.

Lu Ping insisted on "consultation" in Article 45

Meanwhile Martin Lee Chu-ming who helped draft the Basic Law before the handover, explained the word "consultation" was added in Article 45 to mirror the wording in the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

"Lu Ping insisted we should stick to the exact wording of the joint declaration," Lee recalled, referring to the senior Chinese delegate involved in the negotiations with Britain over the transfer of the city's sovereignty.

"Back then, not a single one sitting on the Basic Law drafting committee called for picking the city leader through consultations. No one opposed the inclusion of 'consultations' [in Article 45], as we all were well aware that eventually elections would be held after the handover."

Lee said in the 1980s, Beijing was determined to hold chief executive elections after the handover to secure the confidence of foreign businesses and Hongkongers, to convince them to stay.

Lee suggests Leung wants to become CE again

However, Lee believes Leung's latest comments are a bid for him to try to make a comeback.

"He fears he may not win the election and so proposes doing it through consultations," he added.

Ouch.

Perhaps Leung is still sore from only securing 689 votes compared to his successor's 777?

Both choices were hardly stellar for Hong Kong... anyone else willing to take on Leung in 2022?

 

Top UK Barrister Quits Prosecution Case

QC David Perry has prosecuted many cases in Hong Kong

A few days ago there was a lot of surprise when the Hong Kong government announced it had hired a top barrister from the UK to prosecute nine high profile pro-democracy activists including Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, Martin Lee Chu-ming, Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee, and Lee Cheuk-yan for illegal assembly in Causeway Bay on August 18, 2019.

Queen's Counsel David Perry is considered a "top silk" and he has successfully prosecuted many other cases for the government, such as former chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen for misconduct in public office, former chief secretary Rafael Hui Si-yan for bribery, Nancy Kissel the "milkshake murderer", and former feng shui master Peter Chan.

Protest march in Victoria Park, August 18, 2019

When the Hong Kong government made the announcement on January 12, Perry had already agreed to take on the case, but there were a lot of questions.

One is, why couldn't a top lawyer in Hong Kong be found instead as he or she is being paid with taxpayer money, but it seems the government is keen on draining the city's coffers wherever possible.

Second we're in the midst of a pandemic -- and the UK is in a terrible wave at the moment barring all Hong Kong residents from returning for now. Is it really prudent to have Perry come over and be exempted from quarantine?

Third, the global optics of a Brit prosecuting democracy activists in Hong Kong who are trying to uphold the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Basic Law is ironic. 

Lawyer Ng was charged with illegal assembly

Fourth, does Perry understand his client is really Beijing and paying him to do its bidding? Can he sleep at night knowing this?

But as soon as word got out in the UK, there was a massive uproar with British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab leading the charge.

He said he couldn't understand how anyone in good conscience could take up such a case, adding that people would regard the move as being "pretty mercenary".

Raab, who is a former lawyer himself, also said getting Perry to take up the case was a "serious PR coup" for Beijing. Not to mention the fat payment he would have received for his services.

So today it was surprising to hear the news that Perry had pulled out of the case. Hong Kong's Department of Justice said on Wednesday that Perry "expressed concerns about such [political] pressures and the exemption of quarantine, and indicated that the trial should proceed without him."

Perhaps Perry at first thought it was a good gig, but the political pressure was too much to bear. Or that it looked bad he would be exempt from quarantine and the criticism wouldn't end? 

Lai was also charged in the same case

In any event the DOJ has said a local barrister has been hired, but no name revealed.

Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah said she was shocked -- shocked -- at the "disgraceful" attacks and political pressure.

"For such a reputable British Queen's Counsel to come to Hong Kong for a case which, in turn, surprisingly attracted so much unfair and biased attacks and views in Britain, it was not us underestimating [the backlash] at all," she said. "We are just shocked and could not have seen it coming."

It is bizarre that Cheng could not forsee the possible backlash of hiring Perry -- everything these days is political in Hong Kong. Even where you shop and eat represents your political stripes.

In fact the prosecution of these pro-democracy activists is a political act in itself.

Cheng was "shocked" Perry would be attacked

Did she not think about that? 

Plugging Loopholes with More Holes

Hong Kong's constitution is under threat by Beijing

As the National People's Congress moves full speed ahead to pass the national security law that was "tailor-made" for Hong Kong, the city's professional body of barristers says Beijing has no legal authority to enact the law, which it adds has "a number of worrying and problematic features".

HKBA points out holes in the national security law

The Hong Kong Bar Association was also concerned about mainland agencies setting up in the city to safeguard national security, saying it was "entirely unclear" how that arrangement would comply with Article 22 of the Basic Law, that stipulates Beijing departments would not interfere in local affairs.

It adds it was "entirely unclear" how these proposed agencies would operate and be bound by Hong Kong laws, if they would have the power of enforcement and whether such powers would be limited to laws currently in force in the city.

As Martin Lee Chu-ming said in The Guardian, the Hong Kong Bar Association says the national security law does not meet the categories of laws in Annex III of the Basic Law, that are confined to defense, foreign affairs, and matters outside the limits of the city's autonomy.

The Basic Law also says that city itself should enact these laws, not Beijing.

Tam Yiu-chung says people can comment on the new law

In addition, there doesn't seem to be any public consultation on the proposed law, though Tam Yiu-chung, Hong Kong's only representative in the NPC Standing Committee, says there is a website where the public can log in their comments about the national security law.

However, when reporters looked into it, the website only shows the number of comments it has collected, but does not display the comments, or any government feedback.

Ivan Choy Chi-keung, a political academic at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, says the NPC's opinion-collecting mechanism is very outdated.

"It's only a passive way of collecting opinions," he said. "In the colonial period, many consultative committees were set up in Hong Kong, pooling representatives from different groups... In foreign democratic countries, they rely on elections to gain a public mandate."

Antony Dapiran says Beijing is pressing the nuclear option

But we're afraid to tell Choy that we're not in a democratic country, we're a part of China, and it wants us to lose the "one country, two systems" tagline and become further integrated with the mainland starting with this national security law.

Australian author and lawyer Antony Dapiran says Beijing dropping this political bombshell late last week, outlawing secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign influence over the heads of the democratically-elected legislature.

"This is the Nuclear Option: Beijing's ultimate power to impose whatever it wants on Hong Kong, outside and above Hong Kong's constitutional, political and legal structure," he writes in his newsletter.

It is hardly reassuring when Maria Tam Wai-chu vice-chairwoman of the Basic Law Committee says with the new security law, secret agents could come to Hong Kong to investigate cases here with the local police in a "joint effort".

Maria Tam says there's nothing to worry about the new law...

She said police from outside Hong Kong would need "approval" from local authorities to conduct investigations. "And you cannot investigate on your own."

"I'm not worried about anybody being arrested by a police officer from the mainland and then taken back to China for investigation or punishment," Tam added. "It's not, not going to happen."

Errr, right. We'll take your word for it, Maria, like every other pro-Beijing politician in Hong Kong trying to sell the national security law as no big deal...

Martin Lee and the Communists

Martin Lee spoke at a lawyer's march protesting the extradition bill last year

I read an article in The Guardian today about Martin Lee Chu-ming, the founding chairman of the United Democrats of Hong that subsequently became the Democratic Party.

The 81-year-old was arrested last month on charges of organizing and participating in an illegal assembly in Victoria Park on August 18 last year.

He told The Guardian that his father, Lee Yin-wo was a general in the Kuomintang army who fought against the Japanese. After the Communists defeated the KMT, many went to Taiwan, but Lee moved his family to Hong Kong. Martin Lee was born there in 1938 when his mother was on vacation, and they went back to China.

Martin Lee with his father Lee Yin-wo and son Joseph

Martin was 11 years old when the family moved to Hong Kong and his father became a school teacher at a Jesuit school called Wah Yan College, Kowloon.

Many years later Lee told his son he chose to move the family to Hong Kong because it was a safe haven for his children, and he didn't want to be involved with either the KMT or the Communists.

He felt the KMT were corrupt, and the Communists were not to be trusted.

Even though Lee knew Zhou Enlai from their student years studying in France together, Zhou invited the elder Lee back to China many times, but he declined the offer.

He told his son: "Don't trust the Communist party. When they need you, they'd give you everything, but when they're done they'd drop you, kick you and stamp on you."

Martin Lee has always remembered this.

In the early 1980s, Lee was one of the 23 Hongkongers who was on the Basic Law Drafting Committee. But when the Tiananmen Square massacre happened in June 1989, he criticized Beijing for crushing the democracy movement and Lee was banned from the body.

Lee was arrested last month for illegal assembly last August

In 1994 Lee founded the Democratic Party and has been a thorn in the side of Beijing ever since, a "traitor" for lobbying western countries' support of Hong Kong democracy.

He thinks it is ironic that the safe haven that his father moved his family to is now under threat with the proposal to pass the national security law on Thursday.

"They [Beijing] have completely breached the [Sino-British joint declaration] agreement," Lee said. "There should be only one body to legislate laws in Hong Kong and that's that's the legislative council."

Lee said the most chilling aspect of China's move was that "they have set a precedent for Beijing to legislate on Hong Kong's behalf. We're the meat on the chopping board."

Police used the water cannon against protesters, reporters

Since 2003 Beijing has wanted to legislate the national security law, and the urgency has quickened due to its claim that last year's protests were due to "foreign forces"; it is applying the national security laws through the Basic Law's Annex III that allows national laws to be implemented.

Lee said Chinese laws can only be applied through this mechanism of they are related to defense, foreign affairs, or "matters outside Hong Kong's autonomy", but the national security laws do not fall into any of these categories.

In addition, Lee said what the current Chinese regime is doing goes against late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping's desire to keep Hong Kong without change for 50 years so that China could catch up.

"Deng Xiaoping wanted 'one country, two systems' because he wanted China to change," Lee said. "Now China doesn't even want to follow the rules of its own book... they are unwilling to undercut their power and they fear you're a threat. But if you continue to suppress people like this, things will explode."

Police fired several rounds of tear gas at protesters

And they did this afternoon, with thousands of people ignoring social-distancing regulations and coming out in Causeway Bay to vent their anger towards the national security bill. They shouted slogans, like "Hong Kong independence is the only way out!"

They clashed with police who responded with tear gas, pepper spray and water cannons. Some 180 people were arrested, many people were injured.

Like Lee, the protesters don't trust the Communists either and don't want to go down without a fight.

"I won't allow this to be end of Hong Kong," said Lee. "Hong Kong may be a tragedy but I won't give up... even if you jail me, kill me. I will still point out it's their fault. Democracy will come to China one day."

Why Were They Arrested?

Some 1.7 million people showed up for a rally in Victoria Park on August 18

Can someone explain this to me?

Yesterday the Hong Kong police, on orders by the government, arrested 15 high-profile people for allegedly organizing and taking part in illegal protests, including one on August 18 last year against the extradition bill.

That day the police had only given permission for a rally, not a march, but how do you squeeze 1.7 million people into Victoria Park in Causeway Bay? They had no choice but to walk out the area to allow more protesters into the rally.

That evening, after some 1.7 million people protested, the government released a press release admitting the "public meeting was generally peaceful", though participants occupied a number of thoroughfares on Hong Kong Island, causing inconvenience to the public.

There is no mention in the press release that the gathering was illegal, that whoever organized the rally would be held to account.

So why were the likes of Martin Lee Chu-ming, Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee, Lee Cheuk-yan, Leung Kwok-hung, Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, and Albert Ho Chun-yan arrested again?

Shock Arrests in Hong Kong

Martin Lee says he is proud to walk the path of democracy with young people

Today was a very warm day, and after breakfast I went out for a walk along Victoria Road which has few people, perfect for social distancing on a weekend.

But when I came back home I was in shock seeing the news that 15 lawyers and pro-democracy activists had been arrested for their part in organizing and taking part in protest marches on August 18, October 1 and October 20.

The names include former lawmakers, Martin Lee Chu-ming, Albert Ho Chun-yan, Lee Cheuk-yan, "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung, and Au Nok-hin, Yeung Sum, Sin Chung-kai, Cyd Ho Sau-lan, and activists Wong Ho-ming, Avery Ng Man-yuen, and tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying. 

What is going on?

Margaret Ng carries a book about Chinese national security

Probably with a sense of irony, one of the arrested, Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee walked into the police station with a copy of China's National Security: Endangering Hong Kong's Rule of Law?

But she later claimed she just happened to be reading up on national security legislation when the police came to her flat to arrest her...

Nevertheless Superintendent Lam Wing-ho of the Hong Kong Island regional crime squad said five of the 15 were also separately involved in unauthorized marches on September 30 and October 19. They will be brought to Eastern Magistrates' Courts on May 18.

"Police operations are still ongoing, and we do not rule out more arrests," Lam said without commenting on why the group was singled out.

Reporters asked why only high profile people were arrested within a single day over protests that had attracted hundreds of thousands.

Lam replied: "Police act in accordance with Hong Kong's laws. We will investigate anyone who allegedly violates the laws. We will make arrests and prosecute when there's adequate evidence."

Meanwhile opposition lawmakers like Democratic Party chairman Wu Chi-wai said the arrests were intended to silence dissent, but vowed the pan-democrats would resist and fight back.

The August 18 protest march last year was a wet one

"The timing is too much of a coincidence. In the past week, the liaison office, the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, officials and political veterans have criticized us and warned us about national security issues," he said.

Council Front lawmaker Claudia Mo Man-ching accused the government and police of "playing along with a script written by Beijing".
 After several hours all 14 were released on bail. Martin Lee, 81 years old and someone who was deeply involved in writing the Basic Law told reporters that he has no regrets.

"Over the months and years, I've felt bad to see so many outstanding youngsters being arrested and prosecuted, but I was not charged. Now I've finally become a defendant. I feel proud that I have a chance to walk this path of democracy together with them," said the veteran and democrat and barrister after his first time ever being arrested.

After Lee made this comment, police chief Chris Tang Ping-keung later remarked: "I notice one arrestee who enjoys rather high status in the legal sector and he was proud to join the league of the youth. I was very surprised and worried... he should not be proud, but instead ashamed."

Protesters set fires, damaged Chinese businesses on October 1

Surely Tang should leave the judgment before the courts?

This is what happens when the government uses the law as a weapon, which is called lawfare. In his latest book, City on Fire: The Fight for Hong Kong, lawyer and author Antony Dapiran describes this disturbing trend the government and police are using the law to prosecute in the last few years, but he is optimistic the legal sector will uphold the rule of law.

Will it now after this white terror that has happened today?

We would also like to ask why the police still hasn't arrested anyone for the July 21 attacks in the Yuen Long MTR station? How is that investigation going? There's lots of media footage from that incident...

With the Legislative Council elections that are planned this September, it is believed the pro-establishment side doesn't have much of a chance, and perhaps this is Beijing's way of trying to change the outcome.

Jerome Cohen declares today's arrests an "astonishing attack"

Esteemed China legal expert Jerome Cohen gave a statement on his blog about today's arrests.

"The PRC is desperate to quell Hong Kong's opposition and therefore willing to boldly gamble on this astonishing attack. I think today's attack will reignite civil war in Hong Kong, despite Covid-19 restrictions, enhance opposition to the forthcoming PRC renewed effort to enact Article 23 repressive "national security" legislation in Hong Kong, and lead to the cancellation of the September Legco election unless the democratic forces see the trap that has been set for them and act in ways that cannot be seen to justify cancellation of the election. A tall order in the face of the current provocation, which is only the most recent of many ones.

"If the election is held, the opposition should win."

Tonight we are all still processing what happened today, April 18, 2020. How do we continue to defend Hong Kong without getting arrested? 

The next battle for the city is about to begin. Again.

Marching for Justice (Again)

A long procession of people in the law profession came out to march today

 

Today some 3,000 lawyers came out in the midday sun to participate in a silent march to protest the government's abuse of the rule of law in the past few weeks. This is the sixth time people in the law profession have come out to march since 1997, and the second time in two months on June 6.

A long steady stream of people in black suits and dresses walked from the Court of Final Appeal to the Department of Justice and demanded that Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah and Director of Prosecutions David Leung Cheuk-yin to come out to meet with them.

Martin Lee says no one is above the rule of law

However, they didn't come out (or maybe they were out for lunch?) and senior counsel and co-founder of the Civic Party Audrey Eu Yuet-mee suggested perhaps they were on strike which got cheers (or jeers) from the fellow marchers.

Several people made speeches, including Martin Lee Chu-ming.

"We are here to protect the rule of law. The rule of law means, most importantly, that we are all equal under the law," he said. "If people wearing black committed any criminal offenses, and you bring them to justice, that's fair. But why don't you do the same when the criminals are wearing white? It is in breach of the rule of law."

He was referring to the horrific and violent incident in Yuen Long on July 21 when men, some identified as triads, beat up commuters in the MTR station, some of whom had just come back from a protest march. Twenty-four of them were arrested for unlawful assembly but have yet to be charged.

This contrasts with 44 protesters who were charged with rioting on July 31, just days after the alleged incident.

Some 3,000 lawyers, prosecutors and students came out

Stephen Char Shik-ngor, a former investigator for the Independent Commission Against Corruption also voiced his concerns about how the Department of Justice is going about charging people.

"How can you charge people with rioting within 24 hours? Where have you got the evidence? While everybody saw on the TV the people beating up innocent people but they are not charged yet. So for the perception of the members of the public, this is selective prosecution," he said.

Some lawyers in the march are working pro bono for some of the protesters who are charged and urged others to volunteer their services as well. One local law firm that focuses on human rights issues has even published guidelines on its Facebook page, advising protesters what to do if they are arrested by the police, or are injured during the clashes with the authorities.

Hong Kong has devolved into practically a police state that the lawyers in today's march find it alarming.

"It has never happened before, and I think it is a very strong evidence that there has been a departure from normal procedures and guidelines," says Eu. "And for an important department like the Department of Justice -- I mean look at the word 'Justice' -- you really require the department always to be sticking to procedures, principles and due process. "

Last night in Sham Shui Po police station tear gas was fired

The highly respected former Executive Council member Denis Chan Khen-lee QC spoke in public since the protests began, urging the government to listen to the "silent scream" of the city's law profession.

"But we do not just scream. We want law, order, justice and peace," he said.

He added an independent investigation into the political crisis was necessary and warned that people in power are not above the rule of law. 

Meanwhile last night Baptist University student union president Keith Fong Chung-yin was arrested by the police in Sham Shui Po. His crime? Being in possession of 10 laser pointers. Where in the law is it a crime to have laser pointers that lecturers use?

No sooner had word gotten out that 300 residents and other concerned people come out to the Sham Shui Po police station to demand his release, including Baptist University President Roland Chin Ta-hong, and pan-democrat lawmaker Claudio Mo.

To poke fun at the police, a laser show at the Science Museum

However, when Mo was speaking to the gathered crowd, police began firing tear gas at them from inside the police station. That definitely inflamed the crowd and later on in social media people were making fun of the charges, saying pens and other stationary will be considered weapons as well.

Today the police claimed laser pointers were a weapon and demonstrated by shining it at very close range on a piece of paper that burned in 10 seconds. But someone on Twitter remarked that to get that close to a police officers, one would be tear gassed first...

So in protest, tonight a laser show was held outside the Science Museum in Tsim Sha Tsui. People shone laser pointers at it and sang music related to lasers.

Gotta love Hong Kong and Cantonese humour to make this crisis more bearable!

Hong Kong's Judiciary Shows up in Force

Some 3,000 lawyers marched to government headquarters at Tamar today

Following the June 4 candlelight vigil that was part memorial and part peaceful protest against the Hong Kong's government to pass the extradition bill, today, some 3,000 lawyers showed up for a silent march to also protest the controversial bill.

They marched from the Court of Final Appeal to the government headquarters in Tamar, Admiralty. Aside from the large numbers of people from the judiciary, there were several notable people who came out and don't usually show up for public protests, such as former High Court deputy judge Ambrose Ho Pui-him, Joseph Tse Wah-yuen, and Nicholas Cooney.

The usual suspects were there -- Martin Lee Chu-ming, Albert Ho Chun-yan, Dennis Kwok Wing-hang, and Alan Leong Kah-kit.

The lawyers are protesting pushing through the extradition bill

Also in the march were some middle and junior level public prosecutors from the Department of Justice. Typically prosecutors of directorial grade are barred from joining events of political nature. Other marchers included legal academics and law students.

Some of the lawyers expressed concerns over the lack of an independent judiciary across the border and argued that under the proposal, local courts only had a limited role to protect the human rights of suspects to be extradited.

Ambrose Ho said there was no guarantee of fair trials on the mainland, urging the government to shelve the bill. "Authorities have a duty to gather general consensus," he said.

Several senior counsel, like former Bar Association chairman Ronny Wong and top criminal lawyer Lawrence Lok Ying-kam, said they may join the large protest of the extradition bill on Sunday afternoon.

When the lawyers arrived in Admiralty, they did not bow their heads like they did in the previous four silent marches they have held since 1997.

Civic Party lawmaker Dennis Kwok explained, "The legal sector will not bow to the government."

He added: "We call on this government to withdraw the extradition bill. This is the clear and almost unanimous belief of the legal profession."

Chris Patten warns the bill would "strike a terrible blow"

Former deputy director of public prosecutions John Reading pointed out that even though the Hong Kong government is rushing to pass the bill so that local resident Chan Tong-kai who murdered his girlfriend in Taiwan can be extradited there to face charges, Taiwan doesn't even want to request his extradition.

"Therefore, what is the rush at this stage?" he said, adding more time was needed to deliberate the bill in order to resolve the polarized views.

Also today former governor Chris Patten chimed in on the extradition bill, issuing a six-minute video message saying: "It doesn't have to happen, it shouldn't happen, and Hong Kong should carry on as a free society under the rule of law."

He said the extradition bill would "strike a terrible blow" to Hong Kong's rule of law, stability, security and its position as a great international trading hub.

However, the Hong Kong government will probably dismiss him as being an outsider interfering in the city's affairs.

Which is why it means a lot to see some 3,000 lawyers come out today to protest the extradition bill with the hopes that maybe the judiciary can talk some sense into the government... rushing it makes it even more suspect...

Lam's Tale Apparently Full of Holes

 Lam was arrested last night; today he was charged with misleading police

The bizarre story of Democratic Party member Howard Lam Tsz-kin took another turn today as he has now been charged with misleading police, as the authorities are finding his story implausible.

Footage shows Lam was there an hour later than he claimed

Yesterday news organization Fact Wire released video footage its reporters had gathered where Lam claimed he had been abducted by mainland agents. Instead of seeing him bungled into a van in Yau Ma Tei, he was walking on his own with a knapsack on his back. He was also in the area an hour after he claimed the incident took place.

There was more CCTV footage of him getting onto a minibus in Mongkok to go to Sai Kung and he wandered around the beach. Originally he had claimed his abductors had dumped him there in his underwear and he somehow managed to have money to take a taxi home.

Police also questioned why the crosses of staples on his thighs were so neatly done, and there was no sign of him struggling. Staples on other parts of his body that he couldn't reach could have made the claims more plausible.

Police say the staples in his thighs were too neat to be forced

Lam's case will be heard tomorrow in Kowloon City Court, though he will not be present because he claimed to be feeling unwell and was still in hospital.

Another issue is that Lam has a history of mental health issues including depression and suicide, and the authorities think that perhaps the stapling was a form of self-harm, but he insisted he was mentally fine.

Meanwhile the Democratic Party is slowly backing away from Lam, after they had rallied around him during his press conference last week. The whole incident further disintegrates whatever integrity the party had left, making it the laughing stock of local politics, dragging down the likes of Martin Lee Chu-ming with it.

Police searched for more clues on Sai Kung beach today

Why would anyone want to support them now, but the only alternatives are a bunch of kid activists or patriotic pro-Beijing supporters. There isn't much choice left. The pan-democrats are really lucky it's not an election year...