Following overseas criticism of the Stand News sedition trial, the Hong Kong government makes known its displeasure…
After the District Court found three defendants guilty of “conspiracy to publish and/or reproduce seditious publication” yesterday (August 29), officials from the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union, anti-China organisations, anti-China politicians, and some foreign media have made untruthful and purely political remarks smearing the freedom of the press in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), exposing their hypocrisy and double standards. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government expressed strong disapproval, and admonished them not to make biased and fact-distorting statements.
The former Stand News editors could be sentenced up to two years in prison under a 1920s-era sedition law, rarely used in colonial times. If they had been charged under the Article 23 local NatSec law passed earlier this year, it would be up to 10 years.
The most recent Article 23 sedition charge is of two people who allegedly faked a suicide note after an academic apparently killed himself last week. This would be, at best, in grotesquely bad taste. At worst it could (I guess) invite legal trouble if the fabricated document was libellous or attempted to defraud, say by claiming to amend the deceased’s will. (Such fakes are a thing – see here and here.) But the arrests were for ‘seditious intentions’, as the fake note blamed depression over the NatSec Law for the suicide. HKFP adds…
At least around a dozen arrests have been made under Article 23, and among them, police have charged three people. All of them were accused of carrying out acts with “seditious intention.”
They include a man accused of writing “seditious graffiti” on a bus, and another who allegedly wore a t-shirt with a banned protest slogan.
How do police, prosecutors and judges know what someone’s intentions are? If you are caught wearing a mask and carrying a concealed sawn-off shotgun into a bank, they could fairly infer that you were intending to commit a robbery. But how – assuming they can’t read minds – can they detect, and prove, an ‘intention’ to incite hatred of the government or a piece of legislation?
Police were out in force on Saturday’s anniversary of the 8-31 incident (here and here) intercepting anyone carrying flowers in the vicinity of Prince Edward MTR station. Thread on a journalist who was…
…”warmly reminded” … that his shirt showing the silhouette of Lion Rock and phrase “Hong Konger” along with a patch depicting a gas mask was “potentially seditious”.
What on earth is ‘potentially seditious’?
‘What on earth is ‘potentially seditious’?’
This is the whole point of these laws – so it can be anything they want it to be whenever they want it to be.
We can call it The Uncommon Law
Alongside the non-permanent foreign judges who grab all the headlines, there are also a number of distinguished local judges, both Chinese and expatriate, whose continued service lends legitimacy to the Court. The argument that their presence is holding back the tide of injustice grows ever more tenuous. For the sake of their conscience and reputation, as well as for the good of Hong Kong, I hope they are considering their positions daily.
Didn’t most judges used to be lawyers? I wouldn’t expect too much.
Yeah don’t expect much from prostitute-jurists. They think of themselves first and don’t let the wigs and ceremonial BS fool you.
I’ve gotten to know about a dozen senior judges over the years. Almost without exception, they are morally-centred people with powerful intellects. Some of them even have a sense of humour! Their continued presence on the Court diminishes them, and I’m sure they know it.
In Minority Report (2002), the pre-crime lab generates a red ball to signify that a crime of passion is about to occur, and the team has less than an hour to find the perpetrator.
A “redball” is also an aircraft maintenance term used to alert maintenance personnel that a system malfunction has been detected that must be resolved quickly to save the sortie. These are usually discovered less than an hour prior to takeoff during pilot systems checks. They are often resolved by examining all available evidence and acting quickly, even if the ultimate action turns out to be unsuccessful.
“Potentially Seditious” sounds like arresting a pedestrian for jaywalking at a traffic crossing whilst waiting for the light to turn green. Although never seen they “potentially” could have jaywalked before the light turned green.
“the first generation makes the wealth; the second generation enjoys it; and the third loses it”, or as my grandfather from Rochdale said: clogs to clogs in 3 generations.