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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." |