¡@
Leading activist Leung Kwok-hung vowed to stay on the fight for
democracy after being convicted of disturbing sittings of the
puppet Provisional Legislative Council.
Mr Leung was bound over of HK$250 (US$32) for each of the 5
offences on Monday under an order for good behavior in six
months. A violation of the order would result in the forfeiture of the
money and a further sentence.
Three fellow protesters who appeared before the magistrate with
Mr Leung were treated the same.
Admitted of being treated moderately, Mr Leung said: "Obviously
the magistrate shows some kind of sympathy to us. The sentence
reflects favorable popular sentiment over our actions."
The April Fifth Action Group veteran, 41, was adamant that he
was not guilty and felt no repentance.
"If I got the chance to enter the Council building again, I would start
up another protest and utilize my right to civil disobedience." Mr
Leung was barred from entering the building again unless he
pledged to observe the rules.
Mr Leung, in company with Cheng Ki-kin of The Frontier, 26, and
Koo Sze-yiu, 51, chanted slogans and displayed a banner from
the public gallery during the Council's sitting on 16 July last year.
The sitting was temporarily adjourned.
They protested against the freezing of labor laws passed by the
elected legislature, which had been dismantled by the Chinese
Government after the political handover on 1 July.
Ng Kung-siu of the People's Constitutionalist Society, 25, joined
the trio's repeated protest in the Council on 29 October. They
were quickly pulled out of the building by security guards.
The demonstrators were convicted of creating a disturbance while
the Council was sitting, and of resisting officers of the Council to
carry out their duty, contrary to the Legislative Council (Powers
and Privileges) Ordinance, Chapter 382.
They could have faced a maximum fine of HK$10,000 (equivalent
to US$1,292) and 12 month's imprisonment.
In concluding his verdict, magistrate David J. Dufton said: "The
proper functioning of government is essential in a free and
democratic society. The Defendants are free to express their
opinion as to the legitimacy of the Provisional Legislative Council
but they must do so within the framework of the law.
"The Defendants were removed not because they expressed their
political views but because they caused a disturbance which
interrupted the Council meeting."
Mr Leung responded that "a properly functioning government
should be controlled by a universally elected legislature and an
independent judiciary appointed by that legislature."
"I, as a Hong Kong citizen, have been denied the right to speak in
the provisional legislature [appointed by the Chinese
Government]. If I had the opportunity to run for the seat, I would
have been a legislator," he said.
Representing the other three defendants, Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee,
barrister and ousted legislator, said the Government should not
have charged them.
"They were not causing disturbance for their own gain but for their
strong political conviction which may not be agreed by
everybody," she said. "They had been dedicated to non-violence." |
