#Crackdown
IPAC : It is absurd that mere applause during a court case can be construed as a seditious act

The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (#IPAC) condemns the arrest of 6 individuals on suspicion of seditious intention to incite hatred, contempt or rebellion against the administration of justice in Hong Kong after applauding during the trial of Chow Hang-tung’s June Fourth memorial incitement case in early 2022. 

The individuals arrested include the vice-chairman of the now disbanded Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (#HKCTU), Leo Tang, and citizen journalist Siew Yun-Long (Siu Wan).

The sedition charges were made under Sections 9 and 10 of the Crimes Ordinance – colonial era laws that have been criticised by the UN Human Rights Committee and frequently used by the Hong Kong authorities to crack down on legitimate protest.

The other individuals arrested were citizen observers at the courts who frequently witness political cases. 

"Not only are these charges wrong and to be condemned, but they also demonstrate how far the rule of law has deteriorated in Hong Kong," IPAC said in its statement.

IPAC also calls on governments to hold the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities to account for these abuses and appeals for all overseas judges to withdraw from serving on Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal in this further undermining of the independence and integrity of Hong Kong’s legal system.

Read IAPC statement :
https://ipac.global/statement-on-the-arrest-of-journalists-trade-unionists-and-other-citizen-court-obervers-in-hong-kong/

#NationalSecurityLaw #CCP #June4 #ChowHangTung

Source: The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China; #Apr6
Image source: RFA; #Apr8

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Related article:
Hong Kong #NationalSecurityPolice arrest 6 under sedition law over ‘causing nuisance’ during court hearings
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/32529
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Standing Committee Members Imprisoned: The Dilemma of Hong Kong Alliance and the Beginning of the June 4th Debate

By Translated by BeWater HK on May 9, 2022 • 16 May 2022

On September 10, 2021 at West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts Division 2, after the court clerk read out the charges, Tonyee Chow Hang-tung, who stood in the defendant's column, responded with a sonorous voice: "Understood, this is a ridiculous charge." Applause from the public gallery filled the court room.

Source: The Stand News #Sep24

#HKASPDMC #HongKongAlliance #NSL #NationalSecurityLaw

#June4 #TiananmenMassacre #DemocracyMovement

#SzetoWah #ChowHangTung #TonyeeChow #TsangKinShing #LeeCheukYan #AlbertHo

Full Story：

https://telegra.ph/Standing-Committee-Members-Imprisoned-The-Dilemma-of-Hong-Kong-Alliance-and-the-Beginning-of-the-June-4th-Debate-05-16

Hong Kong court quashes decision to enforce reporting ban on activist’s national security case in landmark ruling

Reporting restrictions on proceedings regarding the transfer of criminal cases to the High Court must be lifted if the defendant makes such a request, a Hong Kong court has ruled. The landmark judgement, which could extend to cases prosecuted under the national security law, came after activist Chow Hang-tung challenged a magistrate’s decision to retain reporting restrictions in a national security case.
In a ruling published on Tuesday, High Court Judge Alex Lee said that magistrates had no say in whether to lift reporting restrictions on committal proceedings if the accused had applied to do so.

Source: HKFP #Aug02

#ChowHangTung #Reporting #Restriction #NationalSecurity

https://hongkongfp.com/2022/08/02/hong-kong-court-quashes-decision-to-enforce-reporting-ban-on-activists-national-security-case-in-landmark-ruling/

#Court
Hong Kong court quashes decision to enforce reporting ban on activist’s national security case in landmark ruling

//Reporting restrictions on proceedings regarding the transfer of criminal cases to the High Court must be lifted if the defendant makes such a request, a Hong Kong court has ruled.

The landmark judgement, which could extend to cases prosecuted under the national security law, came after activist #ChowHangTung challenged a magistrate’s decision to retain reporting restrictions in a national security case.

In a ruling published on Tuesday, August 2, 2022, High Court Judge Alex Lee said that magistrates had no say in whether to lift reporting restrictions on committal proceedings if the accused had applied to do so.

Chow, along with the Alliance, and the group’s former leaders #LeeCheukYan and #AlbertHo, were charged under the Beijing-imposed #NationalSecurityLaw over alleged incitement to subversion.

The Alliance, before it was disbanded in September last year, organised Hong Kong’s annual candlelight vigils commemorating victims of the #TiananmenCrackdown, where it is estimated that hundreds, perhaps thousands, died when the People’s Liberation Army cracked down on protesters in #Beijing on June 4, 1989.//

Read the full article:
https://hongkongfp.com/2022/08/02/hong-kong-court-quashes-decision-to-enforce-reporting-ban-on-activists-national-security-case-in-landmark-ruling/

Source: Hong Kong Free Press #Aug2

#Alliance #PoliceState #Censorship #JudicialReview #NSL

A jailed Hong Kong lawyer defies Beijing’s campaign to subjugate the city

It was just after sunrise when the police came for Chow Hang-tung.

The table in the room where she was working was strewn with documents as she prepared a bail application for a fellow pro-democracy activist. The 37-year-old barrister had pulled an all-nighter in her Hong Kong chambers on the 34th floor of the Bank of America Tower, where she liked to fuel herself with Japanese instant noodles and cups of instant coffee.

Suddenly, there was a loud rattling at the chambers’ glass doors. Chow tapped the Facebook app on her phone and began live-streaming. Someone kept ringing the doorbell and trying to input a security code. “It looks like they’ve really decided to take action today,” she said with a short laugh.

Source：Reuters #Nov10

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/china-lawyers-crackdown-hongkong

#ChowHangTung #NSL #Lawyer