Opinion | Condemning protest violence in Hong Kong won’t solve the problem – not when police are part of the problem

No sensible person could condone the violence perpetrated by protesters. However, condemning the violence will not help when the police force, executing the repressive policy of a recalcitrant government, is not held to account

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A line of police officers ride an escalator at the Legislative Council on October 16, behind a protester holding an umbrella. Photo: Reuters

Published: 11:37am, 17 Oct 2019Updated: 12:55pm, 17 Oct 2019

Having practised criminal law in Hong Kong for 40 years and defended individuals accused of a catalogue of crimes, ranging from massive fraud to the most heinous crimes of violence, I could lavishly chronicle the trials and tribulations of being a criminal barrister.

I can say that the challenges at the criminal Bar are often rewarded with the sense of triumph in seeing justice achieved when, more often than not, a conviction is returned on good evidence or the liberty of an accused is secured because the evidence is not up to the mark. In either event, there is adherence to a standard, a procedure, which people can trust and do trust. This is an important facet of our treasured rule of law.

Experience at the criminal Bar carries with it the burden of a delicate sensitivity to any ruffling of law and order. The current conflicts in our society are therefore a particular cause of pain, conflicts in which many young people, including juveniles still in secondary school, find themselves on the wrong side of the law, having committed acts of road obstruction, serious vandalism, and sometimes even physical assault.

Very often, these young people are inflicted with serious injuries in the process of arrest and thereafter. It would be hard to find any decent, sensible and law-abiding individual who champions these young people simply because he or she supports criminal acts and the flouting of the law.

But many, including large sections of the local public and numerous members of the international community, do sympathise with these young people who are prepared to forgo their own liberty, safety and even their lives to give voice to a cause supported by many to change the injustices of the current establishment, which refuses point-blank to listen and to give way.

It is worth remembering the government’s ill-advised attempts to pass the much deplored extradition bill were halted only, and perversely, after many young people forcibly blocked entry into the Legislative Council due to pass the bill and engaged in violent clashes with the police. The recalcitrant stance of those who govern plays a large part in sowing the seeds of violence.