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Letters | Attacks on police are a blow to Hong Kong as a safe city
- The anti-extradition protesters have won the day and must now avoid descending into mob rule. The police need to keep their authority and morale to be effective
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Why you can trust SCMP
I write at the risk of being besieged on the web and called names, but I must speak, out of love for Hong Kong!
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The French Revolution of 1789 was a result of the poor, starving underclass standing up for their rights, and it was hailed as the common people’s victory over the tyranny of aristocracy. But after the grass roots rose to power (and power invariably corrupts), it turned into a tyranny of the mob, the notorious Reign of Terror which saw the indiscriminate beheading of nobles and innocent members of their households, including servants who were also common people but denied their right to share in the victory!
Hong Kong’s historic mass protest marches, with participants numbering in the millions, were against extradition to the China whose rule of law they did not trust. But the events of June 21 sound the alarm on threats to the rule of law in Hong Kong and a “reign of terror” witch hunt!
Hong Kong’s rule of law is built on the principle that everyone is equal before the law. But now, some are more equal than others! While violence was used on both sides on June 12, the “winners” now demand that the riot charges against protesters be dropped, even as a witch hunt continues for policemen using excessive violence and hospital staff divulging information to police on protesters seeking medical care. The private data of hundreds of policemen and their families have also been exposed online.
Even though the government has backed down, allowing the extradition bill to die a natural death, the victors demand that heads roll at once, for both the bill and its advocates.
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