Editorial: Hong Kong’s judiciary is now a tool for cracking down on democracy|Apple Daily Taiwan
Early this year, the Hong Kong police invoked the draconian “National Security Law for Hong Kong” and arrested 55 people, all of whom are outstanding individuals that include barristers, professors, and lawmakers, for their participation in the primary elections organized by the pro-democracy camp. The Hong Kong Police Force prosecuted 47 of them on February 28 for “conspiracy to subvert state power”. Over the past few days, these individuals have been on trial at West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts. Not only were they refused bail, but the procedure in question also rode roughshod over human rights, so much so that the 47 pro-democrats who have been charged are being tortured physically and spiritually.
With such persecution being conducted in the name of law and such an atmosphere of fear that has been created in society, Hong Kong’s judicial system and the spirit of the rule of law have completely crumbled away. No wonder in the “Freedom in the World 2021” report published yesterday by Freedom House, an organization that monitors international human rights, Hong Kong’s total score has dropped by three points compared with last year to just 52 points out of a total of 100, the lowest score for Hong Kong ever recorded by the group.
Here we examine Hong Kong’s situation in which its judiciary has become a tool for authoritarian rule, and how severely the spirit of the rule of law is being destroyed by the Hong Kong government on numerous levels. First, the Hong Kong police’s indiscriminate arrest of democrats early this year was completely unjustified.
Inhumane trial to instill fear into society
The Hong Kong police mass arrested 55 pan-democrats mostly because they participated in primary elections organized by the democrats and put forward the political proposition of the “Democratic 35+ referendum (primary election)”. To put it specifically, the pan-democrats hoped to gain a majority in the Legislative Council, veto the Hong Kong government’s budget and achieve their political aspirations through a referendum. Regardless of the political views of these pan-democrats, they were trying to gain popular support in a democratic way and through universal suffrage. The Hong Kong police, however, arrested them in disregard of this fact on the charge of “the crime of subverting state power” according to Article 22 of the “National Security Law for Hong Kong”.
In a democratic country, it is one of the most fundamental civil rights to put forward a different political proposal and participate in elections in a legal manner. Even if their political demand were at odds with that of those in power, the pan-democrats who put forward them were, after all, participating in elections to win the support of voters. But the powers that be have arrested them indiscriminately on the charge of the “subversion of state power”. Not only have such arrests undermined the spirit that the rule of law is aimed at protecting democracy, but the use of such draconian laws to crack down on political opponents has also turned justice into a tool for sabotaging civil rights. Under the threat of the draconian “National Security Law for Hong Kong”, it can be said that civil rights are no longer protected in Hong Kong. The space for pluralism, freedom of speech and political participation is also lost.
Second, during the trial, we also saw law enforcement officials’ and the judiciary’s contempt for human rights. The 47 pro-democracy activists were just political dissidents rather than hardened criminals who have committed murder or arson. However, they were tried in a 14-hour marathon that continued late into the night. During the process, they were not allowed to eat, and four of them felt unwell and were hospitalized. The torture did not stop here. They were remanded back in custody at 6:30 a.m., but were summoned back to court at 8 a.m. on the same morning. Subjected to such spiritual and physical demands, they were completely deprived of human rights.
Lawrence Lau is among the 47 defendants. He is a barrister as well as an associate professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Hong Kong. What he said on Tuesday during the court hearing vividly portrayed the desperate plight of the defendants. Lau said that he had not “taken a shower, washed his hair or changed his clothes for three days”, adding that “it turns out that if a person is deprived of his freedom, he is also deprived of his hygiene and demeanor, and this takes away his confidence as well”. This shows the extremely inhuman treatment inflicted on these pan-democrats by judicial units during their detention and trial. It also shows that Hong Kong’s judicial units are trying to crush these remarkable individuals who support the democratic cause through physical and spiritual torture. If even a barrister and university professor can be treated this way, it is certain that Hong Kong’s judicial system has instilled fear into society in the eyes of ordinary Hong Kong people.
Beijing to further restrict HK elections
This wave of indiscriminate arrests and relentless trials in Hong Kong has already been criticized by the European Union, the US, Canada and other Western democracies. But the Hong Kong government has not let up, but has even ratcheted up its actions. Although Beijing is deliberately playing down its role in orchestrating the Hong Kong government’s suppression of dissidents, many details have emerged showing that Beijing is the dark force suppressing democracy and the rule of law in Hong Kong.
For example, Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council of China, has publicly demanded that Hong Kong’s judicial system severely punish Jimmy Lai, Benny Tai and Joshua Wong, calling the three “the worst of those who are against China and who cause trouble in Hong Kong”. During the “two sessions” to be held in Beijing, Hong Kong’s electoral system will be altered. In the future, there will be a mechanism in place to assess whether candidates meet the requirements of “patriots”. In practice, it will be a restriction on freedom of elections in Hong Kong.
Under the “National Security Law for Hong Kong”, Hong Kong’s democracy and rule of law are rapidly demising. All kinds of fundamental human rights and civil rights are no longer protected by the rule of law. Quite the contrary, the law has become a tool used by dictators to suppress political dissidents. The collapse of “one country, two systems” has let the world see the nature of the Chinese Communist regime clearly. There should not be any illusions about the Beijing authorities anymore.
Click
here for Chinese version
We invite you to join the conversation by submitting columns to our opinion section:
[email protected]Apple Daily reserves the right to refuse, abridge, alter or edit guest opinion columns for accuracy, length, clarity, and style, and the right to withdraw and withhold columns based on the discretion of our editorial page editors.
The opinions of the writers do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editorial board.
---------------------------------
Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app:
bit.ly/2yMMfQETo download the latest version,
Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play