A Hong Kong magistrate on the receiving end of targeted criticism from pro-Beijing lawmakers has been transferred to the High Court to schedule criminal cases instead of hearing them.

But the decision to transfer magistrate Stanley Ho was made in July and was unrelated to the case in August that sparked the attacks, sources told the Apple Daily. The transfer arrangement among magistrates appears to be a regular procedure as two other magistrates, Joseph To and June Cheung, were also previously transferred to the High Court role before returning to the magistrates’ courts.

Ho acquitted district councilor Jocelyn Chau last month, who had been accused of assaulting a police officer. In his ruling, he said two police officers had “told lies to cover up lies” when giving statements.

Pro-Beijing lawmakers Elizabeth Quat and Holden Chow accused Ho of being a biased judge, with Quat writing to Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma and urging him to suspend Ho from handling political cases. Complaint letters against Ho were also circulated online.

Ho has not been the only member of the judiciary targeted by pro-Beijing lawmakers. Quat and Chow accused High Court judge Albert Wong of telling pro-government judges at a seminar to be careful of their remarks, citing anonymous sources. The claim was denied by the judiciary.

Pro-Beijing news outlet Dot Dot News criticized magistrates Ho, Bina Chainrai, Gary Lam, Kathie Cheung, and Wong on Aug. 29, accusing them of making problematic rulings and giving lenient sentences.

State-run newspaper Ta Kung Pao also recently published a report slamming Ho and Chainrai, accusing them of loosely accepting bail applications from protesters. The newspaper also published various reports over several days attacking Wong.

Civic Party lawmaker Jeremy Tam said he had noted the attacks, particularly those made by Holden Chow against Wong. He said Chow’s claim was made without grounds and he would write to the Law Society to enquire if Chow, a solicitor, committed any misconduct in the incident.

Tam also slammed the government for not helping the judiciary to rebuke false accusations and condemned those who made the claims.

Holden Chow denied pressuring the judiciary and said he was merely exercising his right to give an analysis and commentary to raise concerns about Ho’s ruling.

He said he had questioned the ruling on the grounds of public interest as a lawmaker in order to maintain the judiciary’s reputation, and was not intended to intervene in judicial independence. Chow also criticized Tam for suppressing his views.

Chow added that District Court judge Kwok Wai-kin had been transferred after praising a man who slashed a woman as having “high morals,” proving that the judiciary should adopt the same standards for other members.

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