8 | Tuesday, August 3, 2021 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY COMMENTHK

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Grenville Cross says verdict is welcomed by everybody who cherishes city’s rule of law and values its freedoms

n July 1, 2020, national security suspects as a “grievous within hours of the attack” on the city’s rights and freedoms, enactment of the but, with Tong’s conviction, he can now National Security sleep easy, as he knows that only merito- Law for Hong Kong, rious prosecutions are being pursued. Leon Tong Ying-kit, Once the verdict was announced, Grenville Cross however, the usual suspects mobilized, a 23-year-old restau- The author is a senior counsel, law traducing, for want of a better target, the rant worker, plowed his motorbike into professor and criminal justice analyst, Opolice o cers who were trying to block and was previously the director of pub- city’s highly acclaimed judiciary. Whereas his progress in Wan Chai, leaving three lic prosecutions of the Hong Kong SAR. the serial fantasist, Benedict Rogers, injured. Having driven from the Eastern operator of the anti-China propaganda Harbour Crossing during protests on The trial, therefore, has outfi t Hong Kong Watch, claimed the Hong Kong Island, he ignored multiple convictions made “a mockery of claims police checklines, determined to publi- laid to rest the concerns of judicial independence”, his protege, A girl looks through a model of the Olympic rings set up in East Point City, a shopping mall cize his cause. As he drove around, he the criminal fugitive and convicted felon expressed by mischief in Tseung Kwan O. CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY prominently displayed a fl ag bearing the makers over the National Nathan Law Kwun-chung, declared, from slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution his foreign hideaway, that the judicial of our times”. Security Law affecting a de- system had been “weaponized to sup- On July 27, after a 15-day trial before fendant’s right to a fair trial. press”. Quite clearly, neither of them Jo Lee a three-judge panel in the High Court, This claim was an integral had read the Court’s judgment, let alone Tong became the fi rst person to be con- tried to understand it, and this was also victed of o enses under the National part of a scare campaign true of Yamini Mishra, Amnesty Inter- O cial unmasking of the HK Security Law (HCCC 280/2020). He was mounted by the protest national’s Asia-Pacifi c regional director, who, for want of anything better to say, found guilty of inciting others to seces- movement and its foreign sion (Art.21), arising out of the display announced that it was an “ominous of the fl ag to all and sundry, and of ter- allies, who hoped not only moment for human rights in Hong Kong”. Professional Teachers’ Union rorist activities (Art.24), arising from the to demonize the new law, Shortly after the verdict was delivered, injuries he caused to the o cers and the the High Court received a call from a he Chinese proverb of “hanging It’s time to return students’ and grave harm he caused to society in pur- but also to undermine the man who said he would “use a bomb” a sheep’s head to sell dog meat” suit of a political agenda. criminal justice system. against Justice Toh, and planned to means to hide illicit activities behind teachers’ unions to what they In sentencing Tong, the court, after “bleed” and “kill” the other two judges, something legal. This would be were originally set up to do: adjustment, imposed a total of nine Anthea Pang Po-kam and Wilson Chan Tan apt description of the activities of Hong look after the welfare of their years’ imprisonment, comprising six and terrorism charge. This conclusion, legally Ka-shun. This outrage obviously vindi- Kong’s major university student unions and a half years for incitement to secession speaking, was no great surprise, as acts cated the secretary for justice’s decision the Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union. constituents and in the latter and eight years for terrorist activity, with of this type, which have a political fl avor, to have the trial conducted without a Together, they have radicalized a whole case, raise their professional two and a half years of the latter sentence are, according to global norms, branded jury, given her concerns over the personal generation of students and teachers, having standards. ordered to run consecutively to the for- as terrorist in most places. safety of the jurors. After the threats, long ago subverted their original mandates mer. It said the punishment should su - Although this was a trial in the High the Department of Justice immediately and turned themselves into mainstays of the ciently refl ect his culpability and society’s Court, the judges gave detailed reasons announced that the police “would leave city’s anti-government opposition and anti- the 2019 violent unrest, as well as those who abhorrence of what he had done. It was for their verdict, which was unprec- no stone unturned to apprehend the China groups. lost their teaching licences or were fi red from necessary not only to punish Tong, but edented, as a jury never does so. This is, culprit so as to safeguard the city’s public The Education Bureau has fi nally cut all ties their jobs, for promoting anti-government also to deter others. Fortunately for him, however, the same procedure that applies peace and safety”, which should also have with the 48-year-old PTU, which has about propaganda at school. his terrorist culpability was not adjudged in the District Court and the Magistrates’ delighted Raab. 95,000 members, after the o cial Xinhua It has published many anti-government as being of the most serious, with the Court, where the trier of fact sits alone. However, even though he is always News Agency and People’s Daily accused the and anti-China books and materials, includ- maximum being capped at 10 years’ When a judge gives reasons for a verdict, quick to pontifi cate whenever criminal union of violating its educational mission. ing those supportive of the 2019 riots. Some imprisonment, and not life. Although everybody understands its basis, and, in suspects are arrested, he could not even It’s been a long time coming. Since the of those materials were dangerously close to this was a tough sentence, it was fully the event of a conviction, the defendant manage a squeak of concern on his 1997 handover and even before, the PTU advocating secessionism and the overthrow justifi ed for crimes which brazenly con- and his lawyers can scrutinize the rea- beloved Twitter after the three judges has been exploiting its o cial status — of the central government. travened the National Security Law and sons for grounds of appeal, and Tong’s were threatened. But this should surprise which gives it public resources and funding Some of the union’s leaders also have close disrespected the Basic Law, which stipu- lawyers will undoubtedly be doing this. nobody, as his indi erence to judicial to which it wouldn’t have otherwise been relations with the Civil Human Rights Front, lates that Hong Kong is an “inalienable In their reasons, the judges highlighted safety is now legendary. Nothing, for entitled — to function openly as an opposi- which organizes the annual July 1 protest part” of China (Art.1). the legal directions they had given example, was heard from him on Dec 30, tion group, most notably through the repre- march to disrupt public celebrations of Hong At the trial, in which Tong chose not to themselves, in order to make it clear 2020, when the chief magistrate, Victor sentative seat for the education sector in the Kong’s return to China in 1997. Throughout testify in his own defense, much turned that correct procedures had been fol- So Wai-tak, was threatened with being Legislative Council, a functional constituency the 2019 riots, the front regularly rallied on the exact meaning of the slogan. lowed. They indicated their awareness bombed to death, along with his family, it has long dominated. protesters. Though initially peaceful, many Through their experts, the defense team that the prosecution must prove its case after he refused bail to the Apple Daily The head of the union, Ip Kin-yuen, was ended up fi ghting police, beating up bystand- argued that, apart from the indepen- beyond reasonable doubt, that a suspect owner, Jimmy Lai Chee-ying. He also the lawmaker who represented the sector ers, committing arson and otherwise causing dence meaning ascribed to it by the pros- has a right of silence upon arrest, and kept quiet when, on May 28, after she and has been one of the most prominent widespread destruction of public infrastruc- ecution, it had less sinister connotations. also a right not to give evidence at trial. had imprisoned Lai and his confeder- anti-government fi gures. ture and private businesses deemed to be It was also claimed that Tong’s collision They also noted what inferences could ates for unauthorized assembly, Judge The latest bureau decision means the China-friendly. with the police o cers was not deliber- be drawn from the evidence, that each Amanda Woodcock received intimida- union can no longer send candidates to Many anti-government critics claim the ate, and occurred because of police action charge had to be considered separately, tory threats, directed at both her and her contest the LegCo seat. As it is no longer bureau’s decision amounts to a political in trying to stop him. and the extent to which Tong’s earlier family. a professional body, all public and govern- crackdown and that the Hong Kong govern- The prosecution case, however, was tra c convictions a ected his right to a Although nobody expects anything ment-funded bodies are also free to eject its ment will spread it to other professional bod- cogent, and the evidence was ably mar- “good character” direction. sensible from the likes of Rogers, Law representatives. ies in Hong Kong. That’s complete nonsense. shaled by the lead prosecutor, Anthony The judgment was, therefore, meticu- and Mishra, there was a time when the This development follows a similar deci- Perhaps because of their youthful inex- Chau Tin-hang, who told the judges that lous and closely reasoned, and observed British foreign secretary would have sion by the University of Hong Kong to perience, the university student unions at Tong had deliberately driven his motor- the legal niceties. It made a reality of the been the fi rst in line to condemn attacks cancel the o cial status of its student union, least have the courage of their convictions bike “in defi ance of law and order, with fair trial guarantees contained in the on the city’s independent judiciary. Any which has long been at the forefront of seces- and admit being radical and secessionist. utter disregard for human lives”. Factual National Security Law itself, which, as attempts to intimidate judges are, after sionism and radical incitement, after its lead- The teachers’ union long ago ceased to be matters apart, he placed heavy reliance anybody who has studied it will know, all, a direct challenge to the rule of law, ers publicly commended a terrorist attacker a professional body and is a bona fi de anti- on the history scholar, Professor Lau Chi- is human rights heavy. It not only incor- and Raab’s silence is shocking. If he who seriously injured a police o cer then government group while pretending to be pang, who analyzed the slogan’s origins, porates the International Covenant on regards the arrest of criminal suspects as committed suicide. Other public universities politically moderate. and said that “in the context of Hong Civil and Political Rights (Art.4), but a “grievous attack”, what has happened, are also reconsidering their ties with their The PTU, run by cunning individuals, com- Kong’s political language, these words also stipulates that an accused person is one wonders, to his superlatives when respective radicalized student unions. mits political agitations and has spread anti- were raised necessarily for the purpose presumed to be innocent, has a right of threats are made to murder the city’s As a result of the bureau’s decision, the government/China propaganda over many of separating the HKSAR from the PRC”. defense, and enjoys all of the traditional judges. Instead of cozying up to the pro- only ties the PTU will be left with are those years while claiming to look after the best Chau said the impact of Tong’s actions trial rights which “under the law shall be test movement and whitewashing sus- with radical opposition groups. Ironically, interests of teachers. on the onlookers was clear, as they were protected” (Art.5). pected criminals, he needs, just for once, what prompted the criticism from Xinhua In fact, it only colludes with and looks “shouting, cheering and clapping their The trial, therefore, has laid to rest the to demonstrate that integrity still counts and People’s Daily was the union’s announce- after radicalized teachers. Ordinary and nor- hands”. concerns expressed by mischief-makers for something in British politics, and that ment that it was withdrawing its member- mal teachers, well-qualifi ed and usually well- In the event, the court concluded it over the National Security Law a ecting the UK’s foreign policy in the Far East is ship of the subversive Hong Kong Alliance in taken care of by their own schools and spon- was “sure” of Tong’s guilt of both o ens- a defendant’s right to a fair trial. This based on more than hypocrisy. Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements sorship bodies, have no use for the union and es, and the legal ingredients of each had claim was an integral part of a scare One thing, however, is absolutely cer- of China, which has been the main organizer gain no benefi ts from it. Indeed, it blackens been proved. In delivering judgment, campaign mounted by the protest move- tain. With or without the support of Raab of the annual June 4 vigil in Victoria Park, the professionalism and high standards of Justice Esther Toh Lye-ping, the senior ment and its foreign allies, who hoped and his ilk, Hong Kong’s judiciary will banned in the past two years because of the most local teachers who work day in and day judge, said “having regard to the natural not only to demonize the new law, but uphold the rule of law, come what may. COVID-19 pandemic. out to educate our young and help care for and reasonable e ect of displaying the also to undermine the criminal justice Its judges will continue, in accordance Both groups were co-founded by the late them. Its only purpose is to encourage and fl ag”, and in “the particular circumstanc- system. The outcome is a triumph for the with their judicial oath, to “conscien- opposition leader of the education sector and promote the most subversive and political- es of this case”, the display was “capable rule of law, and nobody, hopefully, will tiously, dutifully, in full accordance with legislative councilor Szeto Wah. A leopard ized minority among them. of inciting others to commit secession”. be happier than the United Kingdom’s the law, honestly and with integrity, never changes its spots. The union or its The union cannot escape responsibility It had been displayed “in order to attract foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, who, on safeguard the law and administer justice representatives have been involved in every for polluting the minds of young people, the attention of as many people as pos- June 30, said he was concerned that the without fear or favor, self-interest or large-scale anti-government protest and many of them being led astray during the sible”, which is why Tong had followed a law was not being used “to protect public deceit”. major social unrest in the past decade. 2019 riots. Of the more than 10,000 people “convoluted route”. He “fully understood security”, but only to “crush rights and Indeed, Tong Ying-kit has just been The national education row in 2012, the arrested and/or charged over their participa- the slogan to bear the meaning of Hong freedoms”. the benefi ciary of a trial that could not “Occupy Central” unrest in 2014, the anti- tion in the 2019 unrest, about 40 percent Kong independence”, and it embodied his Given his interest in the city’s safety, have been fairer, and this is a vivid dem- government riots in 2019 — you name it, the were students. political agenda. Raab should also be greatly relieved that onstration that the doomsters have been union’s leaders have supported it, whether It’s time to return students’ and teachers’ Tong’s failure, moreover, to stop at the court’s judgment will have ramifi ca- peddling myths. The criminal justice directly or indirectly. In June 2019, the PTU unions to what they were originally set up to the various police checklines, eventually tions that will indeed help to “protect system has come through its latest chal- called on teachers and students, including do: look after the welfare of their constituents crashing into the o cers, was “a deliber- public security”. It places the fanatics lenge with fl ying colors, and this will be those from secondary schools, to boycott and in the latter case, raise their profes- ate challenge mounted against the police, on notice that, if they deploy the slogan welcomed by everybody who cherishes classes. Two months later, it organized a mas- sional standards. a symbol of Hong Kong’s law and order”. in public places in future, they will be the rule of law in Hong Kong and values sive teachers’ rally. His acts, which “seriously jeopardized liable to prosecution for secessionist its freedoms. From January last year, the union has been The author is a veteran journalist focusing public safety or security”, were intended activity, and this will defuse tensions collecting donations and operating a legal on the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong to intimidate the public and were politi- and promote public security. In January, The views do not necessarily refl ect fund to support member teachers who found a airs. The views do not necessarily refl ect cally motivated, and thereby satisfi ed the moreover, Raab described the arrest of those of China Daily. themselves in legal troubles for their part in those of China Daily.