On Friday, China’s doomed U.S. Congressional report that stated sanctions against 29 Hong Kong judges who are involved in national security cases was blamed for ‘weakening’ the rule of law.
A report by the US congressional-Executive Commission of China (CECC), which advises Congress, said a national security law that China imposed on Hong Kong in 2020 in response to pro-democracy demonstrations “created a parallel legal system that weakens judicial independence and strips criminal defendants of basic due process protections.”
Supporting a situation, China shared its viewpoint on how only Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing leader appointed judges to hear out national security cases, but the report said on the contrary that it was an “opaque” process that had “diminished the public’s trust in the judiciary.”
“As participants in the system, judges appointed to handle national security cases contribute to these systemic violations,” the report stated further.
It forces the US government to condemn charges against these 29 national security judges, including lower magistrates and others who are part of higher authority in the court of law.
Moreover, the Chinese Foreign Commissioner from Hong Kong has “strongly condemned” it in a report. They further claimed that it has tarnished the city’s national security laws and judicial system.
However, the Hong Kong government stated it was a “shameless, sinister, and malicious attempt to put spiteful pressure on judges.” In addition, the Hong Kong government has mentioned that judges “remain independent and impartial” , that it is best not to interfere in the matter, and that the Hong Kong judicial system is “open and transparent”.
The Hong Kong judiciary said in a statement that the report was “a flagrant and direct affront to the rule of law.”
The HK government also took action against jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai’s son, Sebastien Lai, and Solicitor Kevin Yam, who testified in the CECC report on Thursday.
This report is propaganda, and to give it a halt, a bill has been passed by the HK government mentioning that the city’s leaders have every right to bar foreign lawyers who create an aggravation. This action is significant because a complaint has already been filed against a British lawyer who supports Jimmy Lai.
A U.S. Congressman, Chris Smith, said during the hearing that judges and government prosecutors who were “complicit” in the matter of Hong Kong’s rule of law should be convicted.
Further discussion, the China-imposed national security law punishes subversion, terrorism, collusion with foreign forces, and disaffiliation with life imprisonment (depending on the criminal accumulation of the case).
The Hong Kong government has declared some facts that show the conviction rate is 100% as far as national security cases are concerned. The arrest numbers are 250, including a few former British colonies, involved in leading opposition politicians, activists, lawyers, and journalists to create an aggravation and obstruct security protocols. However, the legal proceedings are still going on.
- Published By Team Hongkong Journalist
