Hong Kong Speech Therapists General Union Announces 5-Day Strike In Protest of the Government's Refusal to Close Hong Kong-China Border

The Hong Kong Speech Therapists General Union called for a 5-day strike and urged employers to pressurize the government to ban the entry of non-locals who have been to China within 14 days and quarantine locals who have been to China for 14 days. They also demand the government to ensure the supply of masks to every citizen.

Source: RTHK #Feb2
#Strike #SpeechTherapists

Public Hospital Medical Workers Approve Strike on Feb 3:
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/16463

Authors of "Sheep Village" Illustrated Books Handed 19-Month Sentence; Judge Questions Lack of Mention that "Sheep Village is Part of Wolf Village"

Five former committee members of the de-registered General Union of Hong Kong Speech Therapists, accused of publishing three illustrated books of the "Sheep Village" series, were found guilty of conspiring to print, publish, distribute and display with seditious intent. After being detained for more than a year, they were sentenced in the District Court to 19 months imprisonment on Saturday Sept 10, the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

It was the first case in which the defendant pleaded not guilty to seditious publication charges. Designated #NationalSecurityLaw judge Kwok Wai-kin set 21 months as the starting point of the sentence for each defendant, with a discretionary deduction of two months, resulting in a sentence of 19 months imprisonment.

The judge said that the audience of the illustrated books is children aged four and above, who are like "plain paper". He criticises the defendants' books for using sheep and wolves as an analogy for Hong Kong and China, respectively. He claimed that the books accused China of doing something illegal and improper, and "sowed the seeds of instability" for the Central government and Hong Kong by indicating that China had no sovereignty over Hong Kong and that Hong Kong was not part of China. He also accused the defendants of "brainwashing" younger readers, poisoning their minds, and mobilising parents to participate.

Before sentencing, the judge asked the defendant several questions: "When will you leave the prison of your mind?" "Did you put the truth in the illustrated books? Why didn't the books tell readers that the shepherds left because they had no right to continue to govern the place?" "Why not mention that the sheep village is part of the wolf village?" "Why is freedom of speech used to deny China's indisputable sovereignty over Hong Kong?"

The judge quoted the defense's plea that the defendants are "elite" and "smart people", and that they could understand what he meant.

As the five defendants entered the detention room, they waved to the bystanders. Someone in the gallery shouted, "Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!"

They will still serve their sentences for about one more month, and are expected to be free by next month.

Source: The Witness #Sep10

https://bit.ly/3BtQL3Z

#SpeechTherapists #SheepVillage #sedition #NSL #KwokWaiKin

Lorie Lai Man-ling and Melody Yeung Yat-yee, two among five defendants of the case of "Sheep Village", dismissed their defence counsel in the morning and made their submissions.

The first defendant Lorie Lai shared her reflections and experiences from the five-day trial and the 13-month remand over the court. She rebuttal the prosecutor, who took extremist terrorists as an example to argue that freedom of speech must not conflict with national security, and question whether "freedom with restrictions is freedom?"

She was interrupted by Judge Kwok Wai-kin, "If you continue that way, it would be a political statement. If you think I am wrong, then appeal my decision. If you think the prosecution's interpretation is wrong, then appeal theirs!" Kwok continues, "Hong Kong has the Court of Final Appeal, with foreign judges sitting there. I don't think we can single-handedly hide the sky."

The second defendant Melody Yeung said in pleading the case, “rather than judging us for seditious intent and spreading rumours, I think it’s about judging the correct view of history.” She said that Athens could judge Socrates, but not philosophy; The Catholic church could judge Galileo, but not heliocentrism, and that “in history, there’s no single, absolutely corrected view, but a diversity of perspectives. There’s no absolute correctness, only the ability to withstand repeated tests.”

She said only the people’s hearts could judge whether the illustrated books were a genuine reflection of Hong Kong’s social sentiment, a record of the community’s historical perspective, or a spread of rumours.

"If national security only means the security of the ruling group, without respect for personal freedom, then even peace and prosperity is an illusion based on fear," she said, "countless Hong Kong people have come and gone hoping to change uneven political power like this, but they were beaten and shot."

The judge again stopped her speech and said, "All right, all right, Miss Yeung, I think it's over."

Yeung responded, “now it's the relevant part.” Then she points out that the series of political offences affect only not a "handful of people" such as the case's defendants but would lead to a self-silencing civil society and a long-term regression in thought and civilisation.

Yeung was interrupted a second time as she explained the “interchangeable” roles of sheep and wolf in the story. This time she was interrupted by the prosecutor Ng Shuk-kuen, the acting Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, who stood up and said to the judge , “I believe [Yeung] has gone too far.”

Yeung said, "ok, last words. I never regret being on the side of the sheep. The only thing I regret is that I couldn't get more books done before I was arrested, or that I wasn't more obsessed with the quality of my books." provoking tears among some court spectators.

The third defendant Sidney Ng Hau-yi quoted the speech of Nobel Laureate Camus, who said, "A writer cannot serve today those who make history; he must serve those who are subject to it. Otherwise, he will be alone and deprived of his art."

"The essence of education should be inspiration and guidance, not intimidation and indoctrination, and the same is true when explaining the relationship between individual and country to children," she added.

"Rather than inciting hatred, the three illustrated books are meant to explain the source of these feelings and why they are intensifying so rapidly after 2019; Rather than inciting disobedience, the aim is to make children reflect on the basis of law-abiding, rather than blindly obeying out of fear; Rather than inciting anything, I would like to record acts of bravery."

Source: The Witness #Sep10

#SpeechTherapists #sheepVillage #sedition #NSL #KwokWaiKin #NgShukKuen

https://bit.ly/3BtQL3Z