#Court #PoliticalOppression
3-Year #Backlog of Court Cases Mean Hong Kong Protesters may be "Jailed for Nothing", Says Concerned Barrister

Hong Kong's courts are experiencing a large backlog of protest-related cases, with some trials scheduled as late as 2024.

The riot case against pro-democracy protesters entering into the Legislative Council (#LegCo) chambers on July 1, 2019, which had its first hearing last week, is scheduled for trial in May 2023, more than 2 years later.

An anonymous barrister pointed out that the jail terms handed out for recent riot cases are 4 to 5 years, though the sentences are often reduced to around 3 years for good behavior in prison.

Time spent in custody while awaiting trial also counts toward time served, therefore some of the accused may have already served their sentences by the time the court has found them guilty. If they are found innocent, however, then "they would have been jailed for nothing these three years. We're talking three years, not a couple of months."

The situation is effectively handing down a punishment before the trial, the barrister said, and is unfair to the accused.

Though some arrestees in riot cases are released on bail, the terms include night-time curfews and prohibitions from being in certain locations, or from leaving the city.

The barrister calls the bail conditions harsh and disruptive to the lives of the accused, "as if it's meant for punishing them first." Bail conditions in other criminal cases are not nearly as numerous or complicated, he says, "I don't quite understand why riot cases nowadays need so many bail conditions."

Source: Apple Daily #Mar26

https://hk.appledaily.com/local/20210326/WWXAESVWLBCGXDRMFJYGDOCDRE/

#PoliceState #Bail #Injustice #Detention #RightToSpeedyTrial

#Court #47Democrats #PoliticalSuppression
A Journalist's Account of Witnessing the Trial of 47 Pro-democracy Activists in Hong Kong's Court

Part 1

[Editor's note: The Hong Kong authorities arrested and charged 47 pro-democracy with #NationalSecurityLaw violations for their participation in the primary election of the democratic camp in 2020. The trial began in the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts on March 1, 2021.

The following is a reflective account written by Hong Kong journalist Cheung Hoi-kit.]

In the court room, the 47 pro-democracy activists took half of the seats, crowding the area behind the defendant fence and the seats outside. It is like the entire dissidents camp has been arrested at once. Regardless of their ages, ranks and the political party, they became a community, facing their fate together.

With the large number of defendants and their lawyers, the main court did not have seats for the families, reporters and the public. Families could not stay close to the defendants, not even to have any eye contact, as they had to watch the hearing through the live broadcast.

The main court accomodated neither family members nor reporters. Even more so, no bail statement discussion was allowed. The marathon-style trial was like an epic, where countless tales were recounted.

The court debated on a wide range of media reports of the 47 pro-democracy activists. Although the chief magistrate Victor So said that those stories were touching, he claimed that those reports did not point to any public benefit.

Linda Wong, a senior counsel representing the defendants, argued that those stories were not a paragraph in a fiction, but the experience and the true background of a person. The defendants were not mere numbers.

The cold legal provisions and heart warming personal stories continued to compete in the court room.

Source: HK Citizens News #Mar14
Image: Sophiekiu.artsy
https://publielectoral.lat/guardiansofhongkong/29387

https://www.hkcnews.com/article/39218/47%E4%BA%BA%E5%88%9D%E9%81%B8%E6%A1%88-%E6%B0%91%E4%B8%BB%E6%B4%BE%E5%88%9D%E9%81%B8-%E5%88%9D%E9%81%B8%E5%A4%A7%E8%B5%B7%E8%A8%B4-39218/%E3%80%90%E6%8E%A1%E8%A8%AA%E6%89%8B%E8%A8%98%E3%80%9147%E4%BA%BA%E6%A1%88%E5%9B%9B%E6%97%A5%E5%9B%9B%E5%A4%9C%E3%80%8C%E5%8F%B2%E8%A9%A9%E5%BC%8F%E6%8F%90%E5%A0%82%E3%80%8D%E7%9A%84%E4%B8%80%E4%BA%9B%E5%82%99%E5%BF%98

#Reflection #PoliticalPrisoners