The resumption of lawfare and censorship threats on the first day after the long Easter holidays

At the World Press Photo exhibition in Hong Kong

 

The photo that most caught my eye there -- incorrectly captioned

as a protester being apprehended by the police (the red cross

and saline vials on him identifies him as a first aider to me)

 

If things were the way I'd like for them to be, I'd be blogging about a movie (or more) that I viewed at the currently ongoing Hong Kong International Film Festival.  But on the first day after the long Easter holiday weekend, real life has intruded and there are a number of events I feel a need to make sure are on the record.  More specifically, this morning, I read about an exhibition at Tai Kwun coming under fire from pro-Beijingers and thought about the World Press Photo exhibition which was originally scheduled to be held at Hong Kong Baptist University before being cancelled at the last minute, only to find new hosts, open late last month and be on through to this Saturday (April 10th).   

 

Then came a flurry of news of various court cases involving various people associated with the 2019 extradition bill protests.  The first and most shocking pertained to media mogul Jimmy Lai, trade unionist Lee Cheuk-yan and former Democratic Party chair Yeung Sum pleading guilty to having taken part in an unauthorised assembly on August 31st, 2019 -- even while insisting that they had done "nothing wrong and history will absolve us".  But even while I agree with their statement, the fact of the matter is that their guilty plea opens them to being imprisoned for up to five years as a result for this one "offence" alone.    

 

A second involved activist Andy Li (one of the 12 Hong Kongers whose attempted flight to Taiwan was intercepted in Mainland Chinese waters back in November and who subsequently spent months behind bars in Shenzhen) who finally was seen in public for the first time in months this afternoon when he made his first court appearance since he was brought back to Hong Kong late last month.  And no, the relief at seeing him sane and in one piece should not detract from the fact that he remains behind bars (having waived his right to be bailed and even to have his right to bail regularly reviewed), has a ridiculous amount of police officers around him on guard against who knows what and is facing charges of conspiracy to commit collusion with foreign forces, conspiracy to assist offenders, and possession of ammunition without a licence. 

 

Today additionally saw the appearance in court of a 15-year-old boy who was shot by a police officer on the night of October 4th, 2019 (i.e., the eve of coming into effect of the Face Covering Regulation which was controversial even before the Wuhan coronavirus made the wearing of masks de rigueur in Hong Kong).  I guess because he's not an adult, he's not been given a prison sentence -- even after having pleaded guilty of "rioting".  Instead, he's been sent to a "training center" -- for how long, the reports have not stated (which is worrying when I think of such as what happened to the teenaged protagonist who ended up being “detained at the Chief Executive’s discretion” in Herman Yau's From the Queen to the Chief Executive (2001)).

 

Something that disturbs me about the last case -- and a number of others -- is that these people have pleaded guilty to "rioting".   A reminder of the "five demands" (not one less) made and chanted by pro-democracy protestors for a good part of 2019:   
1) Withdraw the Extradition Bill (the only demand officially enacted but then...);
2) Revoke the riot claims (originally, this was specifically for the events of June 12th which had seen the police be a greater menace to society than the people who turned up in great numbers at Admiralty that day but it was widely understood to be a claim that protests in Hong Kong should not be considered illegal);
3) Amnesty for arrested protestors;
4) An independent investigation of police conduct; and
5) Genuine Universal Suffrage. 

 

And yes, I realize they all may be looked upon as pipe dreams now for the most part but here's re-stating what they are/were for the record again in any case!  Also, lest there be any doubt that Hong Kongers' faiths in the judiciary is fraying: here's further reporting that former legal functional constituency legislative councillor Dennis Kwok is said to have left Hong Kong with his family for Canada. :S