Is the Hong Kong judiciary being lenient with young activists?
Michael Chugani says Hong Kong’s top judges, in recent rulings on protest cases, seem to be sympathising with young activists. Are they sending Beijing a message, and what will happen if the inevitable ban on Andy Chan’s separatist party is challenged in court?
Have our judges become politicised? Just asking will draw ire from those convinced our judiciary is above reproach. But ask I must because recent court rulings have puzzled me. One of those rulings set off a rant by Beijing loyalist Stanley Ng Chau-pei, who condemned Court of Final Appeal judges as sinners for overturning the jail sentences of 13 activists.
I have long defended how scrupulously Hong Kong’s judges uphold the motto, “Justice is blind”. When Hong Kong’s last governor, Chris Patten, accused the government of using politically motivated charges to persecute three young activists, I wrote here that the government alone cannot persecute. It needs the judiciary to play ball, too.