Hong Kong remains far from free -- of Covid regulations and restrictions, and political persecution too

On Yim Tin Tsai earlier today

 

I went on an excursion to the previously -- but seemingly no longer -- abandoned island of Yim Tin Tsai with a friend this afternoon.  If I hadn't, I probably would have spent much of today hunkered in front of my computer checking the news -- because it's been quite the news-packed day for Hong Kong. 

 

Actually, before I headed out of my apartment, news broke about the government dropping the requirement to use the hated LeaveHomeSafe app and also scrapping the amber code of the vaccine pass for visitors/returning Hong Kongers.  Cue not so much celebrations as crowing about health secretary Lo Chung-mau (of collapsing and knee-clutching meme infamy) having to make a u-turn from statements he made just four days ago about how, among other things, "We will not just hastily follow the Mainland" (which has been scrapping the use of their equivalent trac(k)ing apps)!    

 

A note: some journalists and media outlets appear to have not read the fine print but the fact of the matter is that a good number of -- and I'd go so far as to say most -- of Hong Kong's pandemic rules and restrictions will remain in place even after a few are lifted come midnight tomorrow. As the city's "go to" pandemic news person Aaron Busch Tweeted: "An abridged list of what COVID-19 rules still remain in [Hong Kong]: • Vaccine Pass for scheduled premises • Indoor & outdoor mask mandates • Inbound testing on arrival & Day 2 • 5 day isolation/quarantine orders for confirmed cases/close contacts • Compulsory Testing Notices".  And note the "abridged" in the Tweet as there are a fair few other requirements and restrictions remaining place: ranging from Rapid Antigen Tests still being required (along with a vaccine pass) to enter bars to the limit on public group gatherings of more than 12 people.  

 

Another piece of news I heard before I left my apartment earlier today: Former Stand News chief editor Chung Pui-kuen has been granted bail one month after his co-defendent in the sedition case, Patrick Lam. Also that: "The defence last month applied to terminate the case after a significant amount of new evidence came to light."  New evidence which, I hope, will help the defendants.  

 

A reminder from the Hong Kong Free Press report: "Sedition is not covered by the Beijing-imposed national security law, which targets secession, subversion, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts and mandates up to life imprisonment. Those convicted under the sedition law – last amended in the 1970s when Hong Kong was still a British colony – face a maximum penalty of two years in prison."  To this, consider that Chung and Lam had already spent almost a year in custody pending trial and prior to their being released on bail today for Chung and last month for Lam, and one should be able to see how ridiculous the denial of bail for them is.

Even more ridiculous is what Jimmy Lai is being subject to.  And I'm not talking only about his being jailed for five and half years for the kind of "fraud" that in most cases would not be prosecuted.  In the latest twist involving his national security trial: it's now been adjourned to September 25th, 2023, "as the city awaits a decision from Beijing on whether to interpret the national security law", as requested by the Hong Kong government, over the matter of whether Jimmy Lai can have a British lawyer Tim Owen represent him in a national security law trial.   

As the member of the Twitterati who goes by John deFrog noted in the wake of this latest "development": "Now that they just added over 5 years to his jail time from the fraud case, I guess there's no hurry for GovHK to rig the next trial. Lai is right where they want him until at least 2027."  Even sadder is the conclusion that a number of people have already reached: that is, that Jimmy Lai is probably not only to be found guilty as charged by the government appointed judges in his national security trial (which, remember, is jury-less) but that he'll die in prison.

 

Speaking of prison: former pro-democrat legislative councillors Lam Cheuk-ting, Andrew Wan and Helena Wong were sentenced today to between three and seven weeks of jail for disrupting controversial Legislative Council meetings in 2018 and 2020.  And for the record: like Jimmy Lai, they also are facing national security law charges and possible life imprisonment -- in their case, they are among the 47 politicians and political activists accused of breaking the national security law by having organised or otherwise taken part in democratic primaries (something that would not be considered a crime in many parts of the world) and arrested back in February 28th of last year; the bulk of whom have been behind bars all this time despite their national security trial also not yet having taken place!

Also among the 47 is Carol Ng, the former chairperson of the now-defunct Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions that was Hong Kong's largest pro-democracy trade union.  The Hong Kong Labour Rights Monitor Tweeted today that: "The temperature in [Hong Kong] will drop to 9 [degrees Celsus] this weekend. This is how Carol Ng plans to beat the cold in a prison without #heating. "Fold a blanket into a sleeping bag and pile newspapers on top."   FREE ALL HK TRADE UNIONISTS.  Carol has been detained since 28 Feb 2021 for 640+ days". :(

The persecution of, and punishments imposed on, the now 75-year-old Jimmy Lai continue apace :(

A measure of how how things are and have changed in 

Hong Kong: the "yellow" restaurant and the newspaper it was 

making available for free back in late June 2021 no longer exist

 

Back in late October, former Apple Daily owner Jimmy Lai -- who has been behind bars after being denied bail while awaiting a national security trial since December 2020  -- was found guilty of fraud along with Wong Wai Keung, the director of administration of the now defunct pro-democracy tabloid’s parent company Next Digital. Specifically, Lai was "found to have violated the terms of the lease for the newspaper’s headquarters" by operating a consulting company that only occupied 0.16 per cent of the area of the Apple Daily offices.

 

Yesterday, the presiding judge sentenced Lai to five years and nine months imprisonment and Wong -- who had previously been allowed out on bail -- to 21 months in jail for what lawyer Kevin Yam stated "in most developed economies would be treated at most as a civil rental dispute".  As some news reports also noted: "Along with the jail sentence, Lai was also fined 2 million Hong Kong dollars (US$257,000) and disqualified as a company director for eight years."

 

It's good to see that this travesty of justice made the international news, and good to see outlets like CNN take the opportunity to point out the following with regards to what's happening in Hong Kong and Jimmy Lai:

Since the security law was imposed by Beijing in 2020, in response to massive anti-government protests, authorities have cracked down on dissent.

Activists, protesters and journalists have been jailed, civil society crippled, and a number of independent news outlets shuttered.

Lai, 74, is one of the most high-profile critics of Beijing charged under the law and faces a maximum sentence of life in prison on charges of colluding with foreign forces. He also faces one charge under a colonial-era sedition law, and was sentenced to 13 months in prison in 2021 for participating in an unauthorized protest.

His pro-democracy tabloid Apple Daily was among the newspapers forced to shut down since the implementation of the law, after police raided the newsroom and authorities froze its assets.

Still, the best commentaries and points made about this latest example of lawfare in Hong Kong actually are over on Twitter.  For example, a member of the Hong Kong Twitterati who goes by Meowgan has noted that Lai "got longer jail time than two other cases this week. A woman who was found guilty of abusing children at a foster care center (15 months) and a woman who tried to murder their partner. (4 years). So, a lease violation is a bigger crime than hitting kids or stabbing someone" as far as the Hong Kong courts seem to be concerned.

 

And there's this from Samuel Bickett, the American lawyer who had his own brush with the Hong Kong law after preventing a man -- who later revealed himself to be an undercover cop -- from attacking a youth in the MTR one day back in 2019: "Judge Stanley Chan sentenced Jimmy Lai to 6 years in prison for a minor lease violation. He was using 0.16% of Apple Daily HQ for a separate business.  Let’s stop pretending only national security cases are corrupted while others are fine. This was a business case."  Also: "As Judge Amanda Woodcock accidentally let slip in a previous wrongful conviction of Jimmy Lai, he’s guilty not because of anything he did, but because he’s Jimmy Lai."

 

Finally, for now, here's this from another Hong Kong resident (who goes by John deFrog -- for, let's face it, it's not completely safe these days to speak the truth publicly in Hong Kong): "And they're not even done with him yet. All of this will feed into his [National Security Law] case, and any future cases they choose to bring to court. They will not stop until Jimmy Lai dies in jail. That, as far as I can see, is the endgame here, and has been ever since [Apple Daily] was raided" -- the first time back in August 2020, and again on 17th June, 2021. 

 

For the record: Jimmy Lai turned 75 this Thursday (December 8th).  And a reminder: he's been someone the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have sought to punish for decades now.  As the last governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten, outlined in a BBC interview back in December 2020: "Jimmy Lai is somebody who escaped from Communism in China, swam when he was a young man, when he was a boy to get to Hong Kong. He's been a tremendously successful businessman, and [the CCP] closed down, first of all, his chain of shops in China, and now they've attacked him personally because he's been running a newspaper which speaks out in favour of freedom."

In retrospect, it can seem rather amazing that the Chinese Communist regime took so long to subject Jimmy Lai to its particular brand of justice.  Sadly, the writing was on the wall from 2020 on (and particularly what has come to be looked upon as Hong Kong's second, scarier handover).  And while it's a testimony to Jimmy Lai's courage and belief that God and justice -- as well as history -- remain on his side that he elected not to flee Hong Kong and continue fighting, even from behind bars -- as has been the case for some time now, the truth of the matter is that, more and more, this harsh persecution of him by the authorities is hard to watch, never mind for him to experience. :(

Memories of a visit to Hagi's Tokoji more than three years on (Photo-essay)

I went to a travelling exhibition of ningyo this afternoon and was thinking of blogging about it -- but then I realized that I've yet to finish blogging about my most recent trip to Japan; one undertaken more than three years ago now!  Truly, when I visited back in October 2019, I had no idea that I'd not be spending time in my favorite country to visit for so long.  And yes, I miss it so; this not least because, like with every other trip to the Land of the Rising Sun, I came away from it with great memories -- some of them so vivid that, in some ways, it doesn't feel like it was so long ago that I was having the experiences that I continue to so fondly remember.      

For example, I can pretty vividly remember details of the hotel I stayed in at the historic Yamaguchi prefectural town of Hagi; one that resembled a ryokan in many ways more than its English name (which does have the word "hotel" in it) would suggest.  Sadly, the pandemic appears to have put paid to the establishment's existence.  On the other hand, I'm sure it's safe to say that the two temples I visited on my final day in Hagi are still around; this not least since they 've been around for centuries already -- with the fist one I visited (and the one that's the subject of this photo-essay) having been in existence already in the final decade of the 17th century!

 

The impressive entrance of Tokoji, a Zen Buddhist 

temple which was founded in 1691

 

Get closer to this gate and you'll be presented with this sight

(Note the hut in which its ticketing office lies, and that Japanees 

Buddhist temples often charge for entry but Shinto shrines never!)

The temple has a main and other halls...

 

...but most visitors, including yours truly, make a beeline for 

its atmospheric graveyard which lie behind the temple buildings!

 

 

 Actually, I say that but I had the graveyard pretty much all 

to myself (bar for the dead buried there, that is) when I visited! :O

 

It was interesting to see though that a couple of the graves had 

floral offerings (even while the vast majority of them didn't)

 

 

More than three years on, I remember how impressive the graveyard 

(of one of the family temples of the powerful Mori clan) was,

and also how rather eerily quiet the place was too :S

 

So, actually, it was nice to have Puppet Ponyo with me

for company -- and let's face it, she also does add color

to pictures wherever she goes, including graveyards! ;D

A heavy police presence and limited liberty for many in national security law-era Hong Kong

  

Yellow bird in a beautifully decorated Chinese cage

 

I wrote close to two weeks ago about having gone to a farewell dinner for a friend.  An update: he's now back on American soil.  And since that post, another friend informed me that he too will be leaving town soon.

Even while I continue to stay put (for now), I can understand their wanting to leave Hong Kong.  For with each passing day in national security law-era Hong Kong, it is increasingly hard to deny that this is a police state -- or, at the very least, one where the police presence is far heavier than should be the case and definitely far heavier, and heavier handed, than it was just some three and half years ago.

 

Whereas not so long ago, it was utterly normal to not see a police officer or vehicle for days, even weeks, it's now a rare day when I don't see police officers out on the streets or some kind of police vehicle out on the road when I venture out in Hong Kong.  Even worse is that I've now seen too often people -- usually youths (but sometimes also older folks), usually male (but sometimes also female), usually those in black attire (but sometimes not) -- getting stopped by the police and subjected to "spot checks"; the most recent of which occured yesterday evening, as I was walking in a part of Causeway Bay that is assuredly not the kind of place where one would expect criminals to frequent.

 

And it's not just out on the streets where one can expect to be harassed by the police but also if one is frequenting a "yellow" (i.e., pro-democracy) shop.  Someone I know told me of being in a "yellow" bookstore when the police decided to pay a visit; and how the experience has left her shaken many weeks on.  And, actually, raids have taken place at establishments which don't seem particularly "yellow" (though I'd bet that "yellow" establishments are targeted more); and, in any case, resulted in the customers present not having all that pleasant anexperience, to say the least.       

 

Still, all this is nothing compared to the harassment and persecution that pro-democracy politicians and activists are subjected to.  At this point in time, it can feel like exile or jail is the fate that pretty much all of them are being consigned to.  So small wonder that political parties are set to dissolve, including the Civic Party, a major pro-democracy political party that was seen as the choice of professionals not so long ago.  As Oiwan Lam pointed out, of its key members: "Alvin Yeung,  Jeremy Tam, Kwok Ka-ki, Claudia Mo are charged with conspiracy in subversion, Margaret Ng has been convicted with failing to register the now defunct 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, Tanya Chan, Dennis Kwok and Fernando Cheung have left Hong Kong."  

 

Something else which Lam makes clear in her piece: "The crackdown on the 2019 protests by the imposition of the national security law and rewriting the electoral rules is to retain Beijing’s absolute control of the establishment. The desire to take over the control of the Legislative Council is viewed as state subversion, as indicated in the arrest of the 47 pro-democracy activists. It is hence, not simply a crackdown on pro-Hong Kong independent activists but on those who played by the rules yet did not follow Beijing’s order."

 

Even those in the pro-democracy party that may be seen as the most centrist of all, the Democratic Party, have not been exempt from the crackdown on pro-democracy figures.  Just last week, the current head of the Democratic Party, Lo Kin-hei, looked to have achieved a rare victory -- or, at least, got a rare reprieve -- when he was cleared of an unlawful assembly charge linked to the 2019 police siege of Hong Kong Polytechnic University.  But today saw him getting re-arrested, asked to surrender his travel documents and barred from leaving Hong Kong after the Department of Justice lodged an appeal against his acquittal.                

How many people in Hong Kong are there these days who have had their travel documents seized and been barred from leaving Hong Kong?  We know of those who are behind bars -- some because they have been denied bail rather than because they have actually been found guilty of any crimes.  But there are many more for whom Hong Kong has become a giant cage. 

What with arrests having taken place at the airport (of people who thought they had been free to leave the city until this happened to them), I have had friends who decided to permanently leave Hong Kong who wondered if this would be their fate too.  Thus it was that one friend kept on messaging me at the airport on the day of her departure until she stepped onto her plane.  

 

And is probably why this latest friend who left messaged another friend and me after he shortly after he stepped of his plane in the USA -- indeed, even before he had cleared immigration there this evening!  And should it not be clear: these are folks who truly aren't criminal types and, in fact, would be considered pretty upstanding members of society -- and will be so outside of Hong Kong. 

A Hong Kong Family that's more imperfect than I would have liked to see (Film review)

Tickets for the Hong Kong Asian Film Festival screenings of 

Hong Kong Family sold out too quick for them to get one

(but I have managed to watch it during its local theatrical run!)
 

Hong Kong Family (Hong Kong, 2022)

- Eric Tsang Hing-weng, director

- Starring: Teresa Mo, Tse Kwan-ho, Edan Lui, Hedwig Tam, Angela Yuen, Fung So-bo 

 

Before anything else: I wonder why Hong Kong Family has the English title that it does.  I way prefer its Chinese title of 過時·過節, which translates as "obsolete festival", since it alludes to the attitude that a number of this cinematic offering's characters have with regards to the Winter Solstice Festival that figures prominently in the movie: with a Winter Solstice Festival gathering early on in the film causing the family in focus to break apart; and who will be attending another Winter Solstice Festival gathering eight years down the road being the focus of much of the latter part of the ensemble drama.  

 

I feel too that a title like Hong Kong Family puts pressure on its makers to make weighty pronounciations on the state of the Hong Kong family.  Also, the (re)viewer gets to questioning what (extra) meaning there is behind such as a number of the family in focus having decided to spend time outside of Hong Kong (be it for further studies or permanently move to).  At the same time, the film's title also is so generic enough as to be easily confused with other Hong Kong movies with the word "family" in its title.  And it sure doesn't help matters that in the same year that this work by neophyte filmmaker Eric Tsang Hing-weng has been released in cinemas, veteran filmmaker Eric Tsang Chi-wai also has made We Are Family!

At least only Hong Kong Family was a selection of the 2022 Hong Kong Asian Film Festival (with We Are Family not making much of an impact locally; and, in fact, I only heard about it thanks to seeing it having been screened at the Vancouver International Film Festival).  And for the record: it came away with the Audience Choice Award too!  But if truth be told, I found this surprising since I wasn't as bowled over by this film about a, well, Hong Kong family (with relatives who reside in England) who aren't as close as any of its members would like as I would have liked to be; and a discussion of it over on Twitter got me realizing that there are people out there who like it way less than me -- and not just because the film's story is on the sad side nor because its technical qualities are lacking!

 

In fairness, I do reckon that Hong Kong Family's debutant director should be given lots of credit for doing a professional job.  However, I'd fault its scriptwriters (who include its director along with Lou Shiu-wa and Yeung Leung-chuen) for throwing in certain incongruities and inaccuracies that can irritate nitpickers like me and cause certain characters in the film to feel less genuine than they otherwise would be.         

For starters, the mother of the family (named Ling and essayed by Teresa Mo) works as a housekeeper for a more well off family.  While this scenario allows for nice scenes with a lovable young kid, who Ling treats with more care and love than she does for her actual relations, those of us who reside in Hong Kong know that it is super rare -- and, in fact, pretty improbable -- that a local Hong Konger would be working as a housekeeper these days; with Filipina and Indonesian domestic helpers (like those seen in Still Human and Memories to Choke On, Drinks To Wash Them Down) being far more the norm here.  Adding to the improbability: Teresa Mo's character's family living in as nice an apartment as they do, given that she's a housekeeper, her husband, Chun (portrayed by Tse Kwan-ho), is a taxi driver who doen't seem to get that many passengers and their daughter, Ki (played by Hedwig Tam), has been unemployed for a time.  

 

I know that many viewers outside of Hong Kong might think the family's apartment is on the small side.  But those who live here know that if your apartment has a spare room (that a relative from England can use when she comes over to visit), this is not your typical working class home -- which, given their economic circumstances, one would have thought that the family in focus in the film would inhabit.  Also, I'm sorry but Angela Yuen, who plays Joy, the cousin who's come to Hong Kong in time to celebrate Winter Solstice with the family (who also include a grandmother (played by Fung So-bo) and estranged son Yeung (played by Edan Lui)) doesn't have the kind of accent when speaking English that one would expect someone from England to have!

 

Perhaps the most improbable of Hong Kong Family's characters is a Malaysian freespirit-begpacker who Ki befriends.  I found the pair's interactions to be cringey in nature even while realizing they were meant to be heartening, even inspiring -- and unbelievable too.  Instead, although they actually were uncomfortably tense, the less happy interactions between various family members came across as thoroughly authentic and actually the most respectable sections of the film; as was a conversation that the character played by Edan Lui had with a man who had lost a loved one to suicide.

 

Speaking of Edan Lui: I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people here in Hong Kong went to see this movie because of this Mirror member being in it.  But the best performances by far in Hong Kong Family come from Teresa Mo and Tse Kwan-ho.  Details about her character may seem "off" but Teresa Mo's performance is pitch perfect.  And Tse Kwan-ho's multi-layered portrayal of a father who went into his shell after looking to have destroyed his family with one scary emotional outburst one fateful day, only to be a far better man than was realized is so good that it invests the movie with an emotional depth that will touch anyone with a still beating heart.

 

My rating for this film: 6.5 

Off-Sets: Photographies of Hong Kong Cinema -- an exhibition so good I'm blogging about it again! :) (Photo-essay)

I took so many photos at the Hong Kong International Photo Festival's Off-Sets: Photographies of Hong Kong Cinema exhibition last week that I think it'd be a shame to share more of them.  With that in mind, here are eight more of them, including portraits of film folks who I've been in the same room.  (This being Hong Kong and Hong Kong film folks often being far more down to earth than their Hollywood equivalents, they can be spotted doing such as eating in the public sections of restaurants (rather than private rooms), walking the streets, taking public transportation and -- of course -- attending film screenings (regular as well as premieres) -- truly!)  

 

More than by the way, I've also been in the same room as two of the 12 photographers whose works are featured in this wonderful exhibition I'm so glad that I did check out.  And for the record: they are Jupiter Wong, and Christopher Doyle -- the latter of whom many film fans would consider a big name celebrity in his own right! :)

Hong Kong's most celebrated filmmaker of all time,

director Ann Hui On-wah -- photo by Lo Yuk-ying

before Hui's debut feature film, The Secret (1979), came out  

Ann Hui is also in this photo by Jupiter Wong but the

focus is more on Michelle Yeoh (the star of Ann Hui's

Ah Kam -- The Stuntwoman) and co-star Jimmy Wong

 

Chow Yun-fat, photographed on the set of Ringo Lam's

City on Fire by Tim Yip

 

Two stars I've yet to cross paths with in Hong Kong (alas!):

Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Maggie Cheung Man-yuk; photo

take on the set of In the Mood for Love by Christopher Doyle

 

Seeing photos like this one by Okazaki Hirotake also

brought back memories of the films they are associated with

-- in this case, Johnnie To's Election

 

Photos like the one above and this by Lo Yuk-ying (of Norman Chu 

taking a break while filming Duel to the Death) also emphasize 

to me how Hong Kong' itself is a star of Hong Kong movies :)

 

Here's reiterating what a great exhibition this was...

 

A visual feast for photography and Hong Kong cinema fans alike

-- and, if you're both, you'd have been in Elysium! :)

The injustice of Hong Kong's justice system exposed for the world to see

 

The Hong Kong Observatory grayed its website last night!

 

Former Chinese leader Jiang Zhemin died yesterday and after Chinese state media grayed their webpages in tribute, Hong Kong official websites followed suit too -- and were so zealous in doing so that they did such as gray weather maps (making them ridiculously difficult to look at), made the Hong Kong flag look like the Hong Kong protest equivalent and turn photos of government officials into ones that looked like ones used for obituaries!

Another over zealous act by the Hong Kong government: the blocking of a top British human rights lawyer from representing jailed pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai today -- not by the Court of Final Appeal (which, remember, had dismissed an appeal by the government to overturn an earlier court decision allowing a UK lawyer to defend media mogul Jimmy Lai in his upcoming trial earlier this week) but, instead, by having the Immigration Department withhold Tim Owen's work visa.  More precisely, as reported in The Guardian, "Hong Kong’s immigration department... withheld Owen’s application for an extension of his work visa. The British barrister says he currently has a visa for another case" that he's working on in Hong Kong!

 

Something else to note: the action by the Immigration Department has taken place prior to China officially decides on the matter, as Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee had indicated that he would ask them to do.  In so doing, as journalist Lok Sum-kei (who goes by just Lok on Twitter) observed: "effectively, this is HK govt departments isolating the court - the final court of appeal, no less - by administrative means, an awkward situation in a common law judiciary within Chinese politics".

 

As Samuel Bickett -- who may have returned to the U.S.A. but still keeps his eyes on Hong Kong -- was moved to proclaim, this decision is "Absolutely wild" as what this is showing is that the Hong Kong government is utterly willing to ignore -- and disrespect -- Hong Kong's top court!  Also, as a member of the Hong Kong Twitterverse who goes by Michael Delaney noted: "In Hong Kong, "rule of law" is when the government uses immigration regulations to get round the courts giving a verdict it doesn't like."

 

The immediate consequence of this decision is that Jimmy Lai's national security law trial has been further postponed.  Then there's the possibility, when looking at the direction of how things are going, that "hundreds (if not thousands) of foreign citizens practicing as barristers & solicitors in Hong Kong" will be barred from advising clients about national security law issues and cases, never mind representing them in court!

 

A reminder in The Guardian piece: "Hong Kong was promised a “high degree of autonomy” when it was returned to China in 1997, but Beijing and its local allies have rolled back western-style civil rights, eroding the territory’s appeal as a global business centre."  (So, sorry, Paul Chan; people whose eyes are open aren't convinced that "Hong Kong is back".)  For has been observed on Twitter (by a fellow who I reckon should have far more Followers than he does): "I suppose one kinda silver lining is that the rulings have forced GovHK to show its hand and make clear to everyone just how far they will go to rig NSL trials in their favor." 

 

And while Hong Kong's judges aren't the villain with regards to the Tim Owens saga, they are very much so with regards to what's happened to a young man whose shooting on November 11th, 2019, by a panicked police officer, shocked Hong Kong.  For not only was Chow Pak-kwan the victim of police violence (as a result of which he suffered serious trauma he had to have part of his liver, kidney and gallbladder removed in the initial surgery, which left him with a condition called adhesive small bowel obstruction (ASBO)), he was arrested and now has been sentenced to six years imprisonment for "obstructing a police officer and attempting to escape from legal custody".     

 

Chow's co-defendant, Woo Tsz-kin, was also sentenced to six years imprisonment; in his case for "attempting to snatch an officer’s gun and obstructing a police officer".  The presiding judge, Adriana Tse, said in court yesterday that "the two defendants were “troublemakers”" and had gone "forward to bully the lone officer… in a thuggish manner, and to publicly defy the power of the police."

 

Since video footage exists of the incident, please watch it and tell me whether you agree with Judge Tse's view.  For my part, I think most people will be more inclined to go with lawyer Samuel Bickett's perspective of what happened: "a Hong Kong cop pulled a gun without justification & grabbed the first person he saw in a headlock. Another protester in black tried to help the victim. The cop then shot him."  And feel that justice has not been served by the good samaritan not only having been sent to prison but the cop also never having been punished for his actions that dark November day three years ago.