Too many people behind bars before their trial even begins but also too many people being insufficiently penalized for their sins in Hong Kong!

The area in front of SOGO on July 1st...

...and one week later: It's really hard to avoid 

the sight of the police these days in Hong Kong

Not that many years ago, when Hong Kong was so very different from the way it is now, a visitor I was taking around town asked me where the police were as she hadn't caught side of a single uniformed officer in the few days that she had been in the city.  These days, she'd be pushed to go for a whole day or even a few hours without catching sight of a group of police officers -- they never are out singly anymore -- or at least one police van.  An added measure of how much Hong Kong has changed is that the territory is now visited by few visitors here for leisure or even business.   

 

Something else to consider is that not that long ago, Hong Kong did not have a single political prisoners -- though it's worth remembering that its first political prisoners of the post Handover era were incarcerated back in 2017, two years before the territory saw millions of people taking to the streets to protest Carrie Lam's extradition bill and 777 herself.  In contrast, the number of Hong Kongers currently behind bars because of their political beliefs now number in the hundreds, if not thousands -- and include a good number who actually haven't been found guilty of any charges but have been denied bail while awaiting trial.     

Take, as an example, the majority of the 47 politicians and political activists formally charged back in late February under the national security law for their organisation and/or participation in a primary election for the now-postponed Legislative Council election.  With only 12 of them granted bail in the interim, 35 men and women have been languishing behind bars for more than four months now.  And yesterday, on what was supposed to be their first day on trial, the presiding judge decided -- upon the request of the prosecution -- to postpone the trial by a further 11 weeks to September 23rd even while refusing to grant bail still to the likes of Wu Chi-wai, Claudia Mo, Jeremy Tam, Ventus Lau and Jimmy Sham in tthe meantime.     

 

This leaves the trial of Tong Ying-kit, which began on June 23rd (close to one year after his arrest and incarceration on July 1st, 2020) and proceeded along to its 10th day today, as the only security law case currently taking place in court; this despite close to 120 people having been arrested under the security law since its coming into being on June 30th, 2020.  

 

In The Guardian's article about the postponement of the trial of the 47, it was noted that: "The national security law was imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing just 10 days before the primary [they organized and/or took part in], outlawing various acts as secession, subversion, foreign collusion and terrorism, and has been widely criticised as overly broad, draconian and for being used as a weapon against dissent."  Still, it's far from being the only weapon being wielded against pro-democracy politicians these days.

More specifically, the government has been accused by the likes of district councillors Paul Zimmerman of playing a "disqualification scare game" that involves the disqualification of district councillors if they refuse to pledge allegiance to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or are even adjudged to not be sincere about their pledge.  While this is a threat rather than reality for now, it's already prompted the resignation of dozens of pro-democracy district councillors, many of them scared by reports that they will be forced to repay their salaries and allowances to the government if they are disqualified; with the exodus continuing today and probably tomorrow and the day after that.    

 

And while she may not consider herself to be a politician, June 4th candlelight vigil organizer Chow Hang-tung is most definitely yet another Hong Kong political prisoner -- with the present tense being used because her (latest) appeal to be released on bail was rejected this afternoon.  Back on January 6th, the person known as Diplo Muggle on Twitter may have been guilty of exaggeration when he asserted that "EVERY HONG KONG POLITICIAN YOU HAVE HEARD OF [IS] NOW BEING ARRESTED."  But it can increasingly feel the case that pretty much every Hong Kong pro-democracy politician or political activist that people know about is either behind bars, or in exile.     

 

Adding to the sense of injustice is how those in government or affliated with them are allowed to get away (lightly) when they break the law and their thus not appearing to take rulings and restrictions -- even anti-pandemic ones -- all that seriously.  The latest scandal involves three senior Hong Kong officials  -- specifically, the Immigration Department Director (Au Ka-wang), Customs and Excise Commissioner (Hermes Tang) and Undersecretary for Security (Sonny Au) -- breaching social distancing rules for the Wuhan coronavirus by dining in a group of nine at a private club last March.

 

Should this seem like small potatoes, here's throwing out the additional detail that in that party of nine was a man subsequently accused of raping a woman during dinner!  And the police have confirmed that it was during its investigation into the rape case that they found out about the dinner gathering that had violated a ban on group gatherings.  All of which, at the very least, gets one questioning the kind of company that senior Hong Kong officials are wont to keep and getting one thinking that they're on the suspect side, if not downright bad!