Politics

For Sai Kung district councillor Cheng Chung-man, the charging of 47 opposition activists and politicians with “Conspiracy to Commit Subversion” under the National Security Law - including 23 district councillors with three from his constituency whom he has known for ten years - came as a shock. As their trial continued, he proposed to adjourn a general Sai Kung Council meeting on March 2. He said delaying the meeting in order to support his colleagues in court was the most he could do as a way of showing his disagreement with the arrests. "We shouldn't have focused on the meeting at that time," Mr. Cheng said. The motion was voted down. So Mr Cheng took the day off and walked out. A few pro-democracy councillors also left. The meeting could not go ahead because they did not have a quorum. Those charged were involved in an unofficial primary election last June to select pro-democracy candidates for the Legislative Council election, which was postponed by the government for Covid-19 concerns. Only 11 of the 47 defendants were granted bail. Mr Cheng is among a hundred or so pro-democracy councillors who are taking over the work of those in custody, with fear that they might meet the same fate amid Beijing tightening its grip over dissent in Hong Kong’s languishing democracy. With over a dozen of district councillors not able to attend meetings, some pro-democracy councillors, such as Mr Cheng, say there is a gap in representation at meetings. "Missing one colleague is missing one colleague when we put up our hand to vote," said Fleco Mo Kai-hong, 30, a Yuen Long district councillor. “That means we might lose a person to channel the views of the constituents,” he added. His colleagues Wong Pak-yu and Ng Kin-wai, both district councillors based in …

RTHK producer Bao Choy was found guilty of making a false statement and sentenced to a fine of HK$6,000 today at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court.  Ms Choy obtained car license information from a publicly accessible database while producing an RTHK documentary on the Yuen Long mob attack in July 2019.  She was charged with making a false statement for saying the purpose was traffic-related. “I firmly believe registry search is not a crime, journalism is not a crime, uncovering the truth is not a crime,” said Ms Choy on Twitter, who emphasized that this will not stop her journalism career. Representatives of the RTHK Programme Staff Union showed their support for Ms Choy with more than 30 people hugging her before the trial.  Chris Yeung, the Chairperson of Hong Kong Journalists Association, described today as “a dark day for Hong Kong press and a day of shame in Hong Kong”.  “The trial is giving a fine of HK$6,000; it's a fine for all journalists.  Journalists are here to share the responsibility,” said Mr Yeung, emphasising that journalists must dig up truth for the public interest. He also criticized the judge for ignoring the role of journalists to monitor power.   Phoebe Kong, a journalist from Deutsche Welle, said the verdict will set limitations on investigative reporting.  “As a common method for journalists to investigate the truth, the criminalization of obtaining license information may result in the disappearance of previous stories and journalists may be afraid of being prosecuted,” said Ms Kong.   

47 people from the pro-democracy camp attended a hearing at West Kowloon Magistrates Court today in connection with their participation in holding primary polls ahead of the planned Legislative Council election last year. They face charges of "conspiracy to commit subversion" under the National Security Law. Former lawmaker Claudia Mo Man-ching, convener of Civil Human Rights Front Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit and others sitting on the bench waved at those in the dock, including Gwyneth Ho Kwai-lam and Lam Cheuk Ting. Before the hearing began, one of the accused, Ms Ho stood up and shouted that she had not met her lawyer. The first defendant, former legal academic, Benny Tai, 56, was accused of promoting “an agenda to obtain a controlling majority” in the Legislative Council. The prosecution argued that Tai’s '35+' campaign aimed to paralyse the government by getting Legco to indiscriminately refuse to pass the budget and ultimately to cause the dissolution of the Council and the resignation of the Chief Executive. Tai’s “mutual destruction” agenda, the prosecution said, was a conspiracy to “seriously interfere in, disrupt or undermine the performance of duties and functions of the government”. Mr Tai, along with ex-lawmaker Au Nok-hin and members of the now-disbanded group, People for Democracy including Chiu Ka-yin Andrew, Chung Kam-lun and Ng Gordon Ching-hang, allegedly conspired with the rest of the defendants who participated in the primaries. More than 600,000 people voted in the primaries held last July, but the Legislative Council election was postponed for a year because of the Covid pandemic. The police also alleged that Gordon Ng, 41, initiated a 'Say No to Primary Dodgers' movement, which directed readers of their articles to vote in favour of their stance in the primaries. The defendants’ activities such as crowdfunding, nomination and holding press conferences are cited as …

Protesters across Myanmar staged one of its largest anti-coup protests on Monday since the military overthrew democratically-elected Aung San Suu Kyi's government and arrested members of the National League for Democracy three weeks ago.  In Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city where two protesters were shot dead on Saturday, hundreds of thousands rallied peacefully, among them medical workers, lawyers, engineers, monks and grocery shop keepers, said Aung San Thein, 22, a Mandalay protester in a phone interview.  Mr Thein went into exile with his family as a child due to political prosecution. He returned home after the National League for Democracy won a landslide victory in the 2015 election.  "We’re not taking any violent action,” Mr Thein said. Demonstrators gathered in front of the central railroad station, passed boiled eggs and snacks to one another and listened to speeches, he said, adding all the shops he saw were closed. "Protesters at the front shouted: ‘What do we want,’ and the crowd behind chanted: ‘We want democracy," he said. "Everything is in order. There is no chaos in the country that [the military] has to declare a national emergency. The only chaos that we are having right now is because of the military," Mr Thein said. "That's what we want to show."  A one-year state of emergency has been imposed on Feb. 1 after the coup, during which the military chief Min Aung Hlaing will remain in power. The strike defied the junta’s warning on Sunday that protesters, who they blamed for “inciting emotional teenagers and youths,” could "suffer a loss of life." Three protesters have been killed by live bullets during clashes with police, including a 16-year-old boy and Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing, a 20-year-old who was shot in the head on Feb. 9 in the capital Nay Pyi Taw and …

It was April 2007, right in the middle of a school day, when 8-year-old Aung San Thein's mother came to take him home. His luggage was packed and ready. His mother rushed out again to pick up his older sister and told him to wait.  Escape was imminent. Mr Thein's father and uncle had already left the country. His uncle, a member of the pro-democracy National League for Democracy party and an elected representative in the 1990 multiparty election, had fled to Thailand after the military junta annulled the election results. He helped establish the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, which declared itself Myanmar’s government in exile.  Mr Thein eventually ended up in a place he called "hell" – Mae La, a refugee camp of around 35,000 mostly ethnic Karens on the Thai-Myanmar border. He lived there for almost ten years until the NLD won the 2015 elections and he was able to return to Myanmar.  Now, Mr Thein, 22, is living in Maymyo, a hill town east of Mandalay and is one of hundreds of thousands in Myanmar protesting the military coup on Feb. 1 that seized power and detained elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi along with other NLD officials. The civil disobedience movement is in full swing in Myanmar, a Southeast Asian nation of 54 million. Demonstrators have filled streets across the country, among them medical staff, bank workers and civil servants on strike, as well as students and monks. They dress in red, the colour of the NLD’s flag and flash the three-finger salute, a symbol of resistance. 100,000 people joined the demonstration in its largest city Yangon on Wednesday, the Guardian reported.  Protestors, like Mr Thein, are peacefully and creatively trying to topple a military dictatorship that has haunted the nation for …