Twelve sentences of up to 7 years in prison for the assault and occupation of the Legislative Council chamber in Hong Kong, one of the most sensational (and discussed) gestures of the July 2019 protests.
The sentence – very harsh under the crime of “riot” – arrived today just as the Hong Kong “parliament” is currently debating in record time the law on Article 23, the local version of the National Security Law , set to further tighten the crackdown on pro-democracy voices in the former British colony.
Those jailed in today’s verdict by District Court Judge Li Chi-ho include actor Gregory Wong and Ventus Lau and Owen Chow, two other well-known activists from pro-democracy movements.
On July 1, 2019, hundreds of protesters entered the Legislative Assembly building, writing slogans on the walls and carrying supplies for the occupiers. Some furnishings and portraits of political leaders hanging on the walls were destroyed.
According to Judge Li Chi-ho, in addition to physical damage, this assault caused “long-lasting” social effects, “calling into question the government of Hong Kong and weakening its governance”.
This ruling is fully consistent with the spirit of the new law that the head of the local government John Lee, obeying Beijing’s wishes, wants to come into force as soon as possible.
Although the bill was only published on 8 March, in less than a week – with sessions held exceptionally on Saturdays and Sundays – the text has already been approved at first reading by the Council, where all the opposition voices.
The joke is that the amendments presented go in the direction of an even greater tightening. For example, we are asked not to wait 9 months to revoke the passports of people accused of “sedition” who flee abroad, but instead proceed immediately.
Among the other harshest passages of article 23: the tightening of sentences up to life imprisonment for crimes such as “treason”, “insurrection”, “threat to the sovereignty of China”, the extension from 48 hours to 16 days of detention police before making charges in cases related to “national security”, the right to deny an interview with a lawyer for the first 48 hours after the arrest.
Among the issues that raise the most concern is the introduction of a crime defined as “treason through negligence”, which punishes anyone who becomes aware of behavior that “attacks the security of the State” but does not report it with up to 14 years in prison.
In recent days, concerns have been expressed about its impact on religious communities, for example regarding “confessional secrecy” in Catholic communities.
For this reason, yesterday the diocese of Hong Kong intervened with a statement in which it reassured itself that while recognizing “that every citizen, as such, a citizen, has obligations towards national security, the legislation of Article 23 will not alter the confidential nature of the Church’s confession (the sacrament of Reconciliation).
On Thursday 14 March, the issue was also raised during the debate in the Legislative Council by the Rev. Peter Koon, a figure on the pro-Beijing wing within the Anglican Church in Hong Kong, who had asked whether exemptions would be guaranteed to the clergy.
Justice Secretary Paul Lam responded by arguing that the scope of the crime of treason is “clear and targeted” and that the chances of encountering an “extreme circumstance”, such as when someone becomes aware of a plan to start a war, they are quite low. “Whether it is religious workers or social workers, we will discuss with them.
But it is very difficult for us to offer exemptions,” Lam added. “Betrayal is a very serious matter. If national security is at stake, I believe a balance must be found to fulfill the duties of loyalty.”
Meanwhile, the Hong Kong government continues to press on the accelerator to approve the measure as soon as possible. Yesterday it was announced that – contrary to what usually happens – the Legislative Council will not wait ten days before starting the second and third reading of the measure.
We will start again immediately with a timetable that currently provides that this law, which puts a tombstone on the freedoms that the “One Country Two Systems” principle should have guaranteed in Hong Kong, will be promulgated by March 31st.
