for breating
2) the acts in question--an orderly, lawful weak-long protest
against the foot by the British and Chinese Governments, to
their promises of instituting a democratically elected
legislature in Hong Kong;
The
3) the offence to be charged--a frequently violated but rarely
enforced clause that the Government itself has recognised
possibly violates the proposed Hong Kong Bill of Rights.
Government, moreover, has submitted to the United Nations Human
Rights Committee that it would only enforce the clause under
certain special circumstances.
monses-
4) the timing of the summonses--three months after the events in
question but only two weeks before widespread demonstrations
commemorating the June 4 Beijing Massacre.
Members of the UDHK wish to make clear that, since the
case is now under consideration by the courts, they will not make
any comment on the merits of the case, nor will they in any way
7 the west. attempt to influence the
cutcome. They will, however,
comment upon the decision of the Attorney General to prosecute,
contain
the merits of re Hong Kong laws, the implications for the
Hong Kong Bill of Rights, and the political importance of the
case.
the
on 2 May, How
Only earlier this month, сп
Secretary for
Constitutional Affairs, Michael Suen, released a list of statutes
that were "possibly inconsistent" with the proposed Hong Kong
Bill of Rights.
The Bill of Rights is a virtually verbatim copy
of most of the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights, to which Britain is a signatory and which
2