Amnesty International releases a statement…
…China Director Sarah Brooks said:
“The Hong Kong 47 case stands as one of the most shocking examples of the crackdown on human rights in the city. This appeal hearing is a chance for the courts to start righting the wrongs of this unprecedented mass prosecution.
“Research findings we released earlier this month show that the vast majority of convictions under the National Security Law have targeted legitimate expression. It is appalling that Hong Kong courts could condone a crackdown that leaves more than 80% of defendants wrongfully languishing behind bars.
“This appeal is a pivotal test—not just for these 13 individuals, but for the future of freedom of expression in Hong Kong. Only by overturning these convictions can Hong Kong’s courts begin to restore the city’s global standing as a place where rights are respected and where people are allowed to peacefully express their views without fear of arrest.”
…To treat self-organized “primaries” conducted by political parties to select candidates to put forward for elections as a genuine threat to Hong Kong’s existence, territorial integrity or political independence does not meet the high threshold of application for “national security” that international human rights standards require.
Research published last month by Amnesty International, on the fifth anniversary of the National Security Law’s enactment, found that more than 80% of people convicted under the law have been wrongly criminalized and should never have been charged in the first place.
The national security laws (it says ‘national’) refer to the whole country, so the HK47 were presumably accused of threatening China’s existence, etc. Which makes the prosecutions even more, shall we say, striking.
From HKFP – a look back at the League of Social Democrats, including the LegCo banana-throwing shock horror outrage of 2008. Rather than hurl the fruit at Donald Tsang, Long Hair tossed it to the floor several yards in front of then-CE Donald Tsang. It was the lamest banana attack in history, yet everyone acted like it was an assassination attempt.
Another “strongly-worded letter” from another bunch of impotent, moralising, elitist, parasitical, European whingers. They should either do something, convince some other body to do something, or shut up.
@Dag Hammarskjöld‘s pilot
TBF to Amnesty, widely publicising and drawing international attention to the collapse of Hong Kong’s rule of law is doing something: it’s highlighting the risks to people who move to work in or do business with Hong Kong.
It’s not nothing, but I will concede it’s very much short of assassination and regime change, which one could imply to be your definition of “doing something”
However if you’re that unhappy with Amnesty’s approach, perhaps you should practice what you preach and do something, convince them to do something or shut up.
“…more than 80% of people convicted under the law have been wrongly criminalized and should never have been charged in the first place.”
Only 80% plus a bit? Who was even just barely marginally worth prosecuting if you squinted hard and presumed a paranoid fascist predisposition was a reasonable stance?
And yeah, Dag, go peddle your keyboard warrior junk elsewhere. Amnesty International isn’t perfect, but they have a long track record of human rights victories.
Dag#4?