Benny Tai Dismisses Beijing's Accusation of Primary Election in Hong Kong as ‘nonsense’ and ‘absurd'

PRC's Liaison Office on July 13 accused Legal scholar Benny Tai, coordinator of the primary election in Hong Kong, of trying to seize power in Hong Kong and launch a ‘colour revolution.’ Pro-Beijing figures and government officials in Hong Kong also claimed that the primary poll and the intent to veto the government's budget plan were a subvertion of state power.

Tai on July 14 dismissed Beijing's accusation as ‘nonsense’ and ‘absurd.’ Tai clearly indicated that the power to veto the government’s budget as a means to pressure the administration is fully authorised under the Basic Law.

“These are arrangements of the relationships between the executive and legislative authorities provided in the Basic Law. In no way that any unlawful means would be involved”, Tai wrote in a social media post.

“It is absurd for alleging this as subverting the state. Also, the allegation ignores the clear wordings of the Basic Law.”

He also rejected separate charges by the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office that the primary had limited the right and freedom of people to run in the upcoming election.

“For those who joined the primary elections, they make their decision to run or not run in the official election independently. They are not under any form of coercion”, Tai wrote.

He said if the central government considers the 610,000 voters who cast ballots in the primary to have broken the law, “it will make governance even more difficult in the future and will provoke even more radical protests.”

“If they have not contravened any law, then any person assisting them in voting would also not be unlawful”, he added.

Democratic Party lawmaker James To echoed Tai’s contention that Beijing’s criticism of the primary election is “absurd.”

“The more the Beijing government or the related agencies attack us the better chance that we [will get more] support from the community, and the better chance that we may really have the opportunity to get a majority in the coming Legco.”

Source: RTHK #Jul14
#BennyTai

#AcademicFreedom #BennyTai #HKU
‘End of academic freedom’: University of Hong Kong to fire pro-democracy tenure-track law prof. Benny Tai

//The HKU Council voted 18 to 2 on July 28, 2020 in favour of removing the Umbrella Movement leader from the law faculty.

HKU Council is the governing and management body of the university and its members include six members who are appointed by the institution’s chancellor – Hong Kong’s chief executive. It also includes six public trustees appointed by the Council who are not employed by HKU, several teachers, one undergraduate and one postgraduate student.

Responding to the decision, Tai told journalists that it was not made by the university, but by “an authority beyond the University through its agents.”

Undergraduate representative of the council Nathaniel Lei told the press after the meeting that he was enraged by the decision: “It was a blatant trampling of academic freedom and the autonomy of the university.”//

Source: Hong Kong Free Press #Jul28 #FailedState

#Opinion #BennyTai
#RuleofLaw

This is Professor Benny Tai Yiu-ting

I was thinking to create a portrait for him and asked him to bring some of the books, if not all, that motivate him to do what he is doing. As it turned out, he picked out the books from home and his office and briefly introduced them one after another.

Continue reading below
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#Lazarus #BennyTai
Words from Benny Tai:
Lazarus's Revelation to Hong Kong

Benny Tai, legal scholar and convener of the civil disobedient campaign "Occupy Central With Love and Peace" wrote the following in an column for #AppleDaily:

"As Lazarus of Bethany was resurrected, he was also cured of his illness. Hong Kong must undergo death, and wait for the right time to be restored back to life, this journey would not be short. Perhaps this is to rid Hong Kong of its taint through the city's death, so that the city could be brought back to life with the corruption gone, when there would be a new start."

"My point is that, to those who still believe in Hong Kong's restoration, they should understand that it is beyond a single person's ability to restore Hong Kong to life. The time until its restoration would be dark and painful, but if we are to suffer through the pain, new life awaits us then."

Source: Benny Tai @ Apple Daily #Aug11

#AcademicFreedom
Academics Demand #HKU and #HKBU to Retract their Decisions of Terminating the Contracts of #BennyTai and #ShiuKaChun

Source: InMedia #Aug15

Read more
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https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/24327

#AcademicFreedom
Academics Demand #HKU and #HKBU to Retract their Decisions of Terminating the Contracts of #BennyTai and #ShiuKaChun

The Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) has refused to renew the contract of Shiu Ka-Chun, a lecturer in social work and pro-democracy lawmaker of the social welfare functional constituency. The University of Hong Kong (HKU) has terminated the tenured position of Benny Tai, an associate professor of law and convener of the “Occupy Central with Peace and Love” civil disobedience campaign in 2014.

The education sector has initiated a petition condemning the 2 universities, and urging them to retract their decisions. Up to now, nearly 4,000 signatures has been collected.

Choi Bo-King, former associate professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (#CUHK) and member of Scholars’ Alliance for Academic Freedom, condemned government for intervening academic freedom. She pointed out that the Chief Executive (CE) has been appointing crucial positions in the universities’ committee which made decision on terminating the tenured position of legal professor Benny Tai.

Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union vice-president of Ip Kin-Yuen also criticised the university council of HKU which ignored the opinion of the university's senate of academic staff and insisted on dismissing Benny Tai in such a short time.

Citing a survey of the Global Public Policy Institute, Dixon Sing Ming, associate ptofessor of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (#HKUST) stated that Hong Kong academic freedom was marked with a score of 0.442, sharing a similar ranking with Ethiopia. It implies that academic freedom in Hong Kong has been facing a very serious crackeddown. This reveals how the authorities is suppressing human rights and democracy movements in Hong Kong via different faculties.

Source: InMedia #Aug15

#BennyTai Leaves University Hong Kong and Awaits the "Rebirth of the Rule of Law"

"All things packed, I am leaving the University of Hong Kong with 2,000 books and a lot of memories.

Closing the door behind, I will never return to this office. I am walking on a new path. The journey to the rebirth of the rule of law is filled with challenges.

Maybe I will come back to HKU with a new role in future, but that will be another story."

Source: Benny Tai's Facebook #Aug29
https://www.facebook.com/587572848/posts/10157557269912849/

#Rebirth #RuleofLaw

#Breaking #MassArrest #NationalSecurityLaw
Benny Tai, Robert Chung, and fifty more Democratics arrested this morning for inciting subversion of state power through arranging ‘35+ Primary Election’

The #DemocraticParty suggested a ’35+ #PrimaryElection scheme’, hoping to secure over half of the seats in the #2019LegislativeCouncilElection, yet the election was cancelled later. The #NationalSecurityDepartment of Hong Kong Police Force arrested around #50Democratics.

At around 6 in the morning, the Democratic Party stated on their Facebook that ex #LegCoMember #JamesTo Kun-sun, #AndrewWan and #LamCheukTing were arrested at their homes for #IncitingSubversinoOfStatePower through suggesting the ’35+ Primary Election scheme’. #GaryFan Kwok-wai from the #NeoDemocrats was also arrested, and he stated on his personal Facebook that ’The Charge is joining the Primary Election’.

Social Movement Activist #VentusLau Wing-hong, #JimmySham Tsz-kit , ex-Legislative Council Member #LeungKwokHung, #EddieChu Hoi-dick, #WuChiWai, #RoyKwong Chun-yu, #HelenaWong Pik-wan, #AlvinYeung Ngok-kiu, District Councillor of the Southern District #TiffanyYuen, ex- #theStandNews reporter #GwynethHo Kwai-lam, District Councillor of Central and Western District #FergusLeung, jurisprudent #BennyTai Yiu-ting, and the Chair of the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (#PORI) #RobertChung Ting-yiu were also arrested.

Source: Apple Daily, Stand News; #Jan06

https://hk.appledaily.com/breaking/20210106/JSJPIIZ6WNGBZHMPVDF76T3ODM/

#ProtestArt
Revolution of Our Times Wins "Most Influential" & "Best Cultural Image" Awards at FIPADOC Festival in France

Revolution of Our Times, a documentary banned in Hong Kong chronicling the 2019 Anti-ELAB Movement, has won two awards at the 2022 FIPADOC International Documentary Festival in France, in the catagories of "Most influential" and "Best Cultural Image".

This is the second time the film has won an international award, after taking home the Best Documentary at Taiwan's Golden Horse Film Festival in November last year.

Documentaries from Germany, France, and Belgium were also nominated at the FIPADOC awards, which honor films that inspire social justice, environmentalism, and human rights. The annual festival specializes in non-fiction films, and is now in its 34th year, having first been held in Cannes, France in 1987.

Since its premiere at Cannes Film Festival, every showing of "Revolution of Our Times" has attracted public attention and filled seats at film festivals around the world.

Director #KiwiChow, who resides in Hong Kong, had previously stated that he does not have a copy of the film on hand. The film is scheduled to be screened in Taiwan's theatres on February 25. It will be the first territory where the film is shown in public.

The documentary shows multiple angles of the Anti-ELAB protests from seven different iconic groups in the movement: former reporter turned activist #GwynethHo, who is now held in custody; professor #BennyTai; social workers; the seniors group #ProtectOurChildren; volunteer drivers; first aiders; university students turned frontline protesters; and high school students who left behind their wills before going out to fight.

The film weaves their stories together with now-classic images of the movement, and paints a realistic portrait of Hong Kong's fight for freedom and democracy.

See also: Hong Kong's "Revolution of Our Times" Wins Best Documentary in Taiwan Film Awards; Director: "This Film Belongs to Every Hongkonger Who Cried for Hong Kong
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/31526

Source: Commons HK; #Jan24

https://bit.ly/3IDxMVA

#RevolutionOfOurTimes #FIPADOC #Film #Award

#PoliticalOppression #Court
#47democrats in Hong Kong detained for almost a year while awaiting trial

The national security case involving 47 pro-democracy figures continued its third time hearing on February 8, 2022 in a Hong Kong Court.

The case was again adjourned for next hearing scheduled on February 28, 2022. By then, most of the defendants have remanded in custody for almost one year.

The 47 defendants – including activist #JoshuaWong, former law professor #BennyTai and ex-lawmakers #LamCheukTing, #WuChiWai and #LeungKwokHung – stand accused of taking part in an unofficial primary election in July 2020 with a view to subverting the state power.

Only 14 of the accused democrats are currently on bail pending trial. Others have been in custody for almost one year while they await trial.

#NationalSecurityLaw #NSL #PoliceState #WhiteTerror

Source: InmediaHK, #Feb8
https://bit.ly/3GEDTrc

#47Democrats #PrimaryElection #MassArrest
"To Plea or Not To Plea guilty" is a queation that suffocates defendants

47 lawmakers, academia, and activist are being suspected of organising and participating in the primary election in 2020. They are being accused of "conspiring subversion of state".

In the 139-page of case study, it revealed that 5 of the defendants were classified as "major organisers" - #BennyTai, a legal scholar; #AuNokHin, a former legislator; #ChiuKaYin and #ChungKamLun, former district council members; and #GordonNg, an activist.

Among them, only Gordon Ng decided to plea not guilty.

Gordon Ng Concern Group wrote a post on social media after the release of the restrictions on reporting the cases, referring to Ng's perspective that he is "definitely not believing" that he had violated the law,  and therefore, "I will face it despite being afraid”.

Ng said that he spent most of his time thinking about whether or not to plead guilty since being charged one and a half years ago. This question "makes him breathless" as his answer would most likely affect the second half of his life, with too many factors to consider.

He mentioned up until now, no defendant under the #NSL case has successfully been acquitted of their charges and described the space for discusiion, as an unknown as it required a lot of human and material resources. He asked, "is there a better way to use the resources spent on me?"

Ng understands that if he pleads guilty, his one-third of his original sentence may be cut. Yet, he is still unsure whether he is classified as a "main person", "with large crime" or "proactive participant". The category can seriously affect his sentence, from under three years to life imprisonment.

In addition, Ng stated that the case caught local and international attention, and as a result, he reflects on whether he has the responsibility to consider the view of civic society. He is an #Australian citizen, and the Australian government once published a statement raising concerns on the case. Therefore, he reflects, "Will my defence statement affect their views on the case?"

Gordon Ng admitted that he had no answer for most of his questions, but a fundamental question struck him - Do you think you had violated the law? "No, I absolutely don't think so. Therefore, I decide not to plead."

There is no way for him to get rid of the unknowns. He can only face it with courage. "I have prepared to fight for myself on the court. That is the largest battle in my life."

[Editor note: Gordon Ng is not a candidate for the election nor represents any political parties or organisations but a passerby on #LIHKG (named Lee Bak Lou, indicating liberal). He was the initiator of #LegCoPetition. It is a petition aimed to quantify people's voices and to call people to vote for the winners in the primary election and not to vote for candidates who do not support, participate or comply with the primary election. This petition puts pressure on candidates to adhere to the election results.]

Source: InMedia, GordonNgConcernGroup Facebook Page #Aug18

https://bit.ly/3Ctdhek
https://bit.ly/3Rb3rSD

Read more about the case:

Jan 6, 2021:
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/27802

Feb 28, 2021:
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/28799

Mar 1-2, 2021:
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/28876
.