Hong Kong Judicial System Blemished

By Dao Bai

(Clearwisdom.net) Under the watchful eyes of the free world, a Hong Kong court declared on August 15 that all seven charges against the sixteen falsely accused Falun Gong practitioners were valid, including "obstructing traffic" and "assaulting the police."

Such a setback for the judicial system places a large blemish upon Hong Kong, causing severe dishonor and humiliation in the eyes of the international community that will be hard to reverse.

During the past five years, although many of Hong Kong's freedoms were under constant corrosion from Beijing, Hong Kong officials gave assurances of the judicial system's autonomy. Now, this obviously politically motivated case reveals what has really happened to "judicial fairness" since Hong Kong's return to China in 1997. On March 14, sixteen Falun Gong practitioners held a peaceful appeal outside the Chinese Liaison Office in Hong Kong. The sidewalk there was very wide, and there was plenty of space left for passing pedestrians. The Hong Kong police's forcible arrest of these practitioners was done merely to satisfy the demands of the China Liaison Authorities. That the Hong Kong government followed up by charging, prosecuting, and convicting these practitioners was apparently influenced by pressure from Beijing, and was done only to appease the Chinese government.

The charges of "obstructing traffic" and "assaulting the police" do not make sense at all. With no intention of finding out the truth, the judge construed occupying seven square meters of a 140-square-meter space to be blocking a street. On the other hand, the same area was entirely barricaded by the police for the following five days, and then permanently occupied by government construction. However, neither of these two actions was considered "obstructing traffic." Ms. Lu Jie, a Falun Gong practitioner, was charged with "assaulting the police," including "biting" a policewoman. However, she pointed out that she did not "bite" anyone, nor was any mark found on the policewoman, according to the medical examination report. On the other hand, it was Lu who was painfully pinched at acupuncture points by police three times within 20 minutes, even though she offered no resistance. However, the judge ignored all of these facts. Throughout the whole process, the Hong Kong government was unable to find even a single third-party witness, nor anyone except the police who could support the charges of "obstructing traffic" and "assaulting the police."

This verdict shows that the Hong Kong judicial system is no longer autonomous; it failed to safeguard the integrity of the judicial process in Hong Kong as it used to do. Meanwhile, the Chinese government's promise of "one country, two systems" is now seen as an empty saying. Symon Wong, the judge in the Hong Kong West District Court who was in charge of the hearing, gave an outright lie, "This case has nothing to do with Falun Gong itself." Chinese News Agency, China's official propaganda machine, also emphasized on August 15 that, "this hearing was not influenced by political factors." It's apparent that Hong Kong has turned into a puppet of the Beijing government.

Without freedom and justice, how can Hong Kong keep her prosperity and honor? If Hong Kong is unable to maintain a fair judicial system, human rights can no longer be protected. This will go further to threaten Hong Kong's economic growth. According to a recent credit card company survey of consumers from 13 countries (or districts) in the Asian Pacific region, Hong Kong has the lowest consumer confidence. Only 13.9% of Hong Kong consumers were confident in Hong Kong's future. This ridiculous politically motivated trial is only one example among countless absurd incidents that have taken place in China under the dictatorship of the past fifty years. However, it sends a clear warning to the world, that the corruption is being extended overseas.

Szeto Wah, a member of Hong Kong's legislative committee, said, "Hong Kong citizens need to pay close attention to this. It is not simply an issue of Falun Gong, it is actually has influence on Hong Kong's human rights and judicial system. Today, it is Falun Gong practitioners who are persecuted; in the future, it will other people among us who will experience such persecution."

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2002/8/18/35129.html

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