In time, history will list them in the same breath as Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr, Vaclav Havel, Lech Walesa, Andrei Sakharov, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Natan Sharansky, or Mahatma Gandhi, both in terms of their inspiring courage and commitment – and in terms of the absurd injustice with which they have been afflicted.
The decision by Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal to reject an appeal by these seven courageous Hong Kong pro-democracy leaders against a conviction for taking part in a peaceful protest in 2019 is – as the last British governor of Hong Kong Lord Chris Patten rightly said – “unjust”.
It was a protest in which 1.7 million Hong Kongers – about a quarter of the city’s population – participated in a series of peaceful demonstrations that swept Hong Kong in 2019 against a proposed law that would allow for extradition from Hong Kong into mainland China. This was in total breach of Hong Kong’s promised autonomy and freedom.
That a British judge, Lord David Neuberger, one of the few remaining retired foreign judges still sitting in Hong Kong’s courts, sat on the panel that upheld the conviction brings shame to Lord Neuberger and Britain. It gives the lie to the idea that foreign judges can exercise some restraining influence by continuing to sit in Hong Kong’s courts.
Even more shocking is that Lord Neuberger, in the written judgment, said the chief justices had “fully and impressively” considered questions regarding whether the conviction was proportionate to the defendants’ fundamental human rights, enshrined in Hong Kong’s bill of rights – including freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.
This story is from the August 16, 2024 edition of The Independent.
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This story is from the August 16, 2024 edition of The Independent.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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