16 P
است.
Mimivity
Selective Application of the "aw in Hong Kong
According to the Public Order Ordinance of Hong Kong, police are
empowered to arrest and charge with "Unlawful Assembly" any gathering of three
or more persons gathered in any public place, regardless of their purpose. The sweeping power of this law was pinpointed in court recently when Justice Cons (not particularly known for clemency towards Chinese in the dock) said, according to press reports, "Under the Public Ordinance
Seution 11, there were hundreds of people taking part in unlawful assemblies
every day." He said that this applied particularly to tourists being taken
by coach on conducted tours... Any police officer could, if he were so
minded, exercise his power to stop one of those coaches and order the tourists inside to disperse. (Justice Cons might have added that if they failed to disperse they were liable to arrest, since this is the law.)
"The power is there," he emphasised, in dismissing the appeals of those who
had been found guilty under the Ordinance.
The words of Justice Cons are worthy of repetition:
"Any police officer could, if he were so minded, exercise his power."
And it is exactly this power to select the occasions when the police exerciso their powers under the Ordinance that makes it a political weapon in recent
months, as it was in the year 1967 when it was first enacted to quell serious
disturbances.
(Since 1967)
The nearest Hong Kong has reached towards civil disturbances was
in October, 1977, when an army of 3000 armed police marched threateningly
through central Hong Kong to the office of the Independent Commission
Against Corruption. They shouted abuse at and manhandled I.C.A.C. personnel. They threw objects and broke windows. Identifiable persons were pictured in
the press clearly showing them using physical force on ICAC men who were
themselves unarmed. Some of these personnel say they could have identified
their attackers but they were not asked to do so. After a public outcry, one person was arrested and charged with unlawful assembly.
In May, 1979, a large group of about 500 police converged on
another Government office on a matter which may well have deserved a protest. Nevertheless their assembly was an unlawful one, but no action was taken
against them.
Entirely different was the treatment of a small group of employees of a local television company with rich and influential directors and share- holders. They held a peaceful protest against their dismissal with neither
compensation nor severance pay. They were arrested and charged with unlawful
assembly.
arrest.
Civic leaders held a seminar to demand the right to petition without
In February, a group of boat people boarded a bus hoping to present a petition at Government House, asking for housing because their boats were
dangerous and children had been drowned. The bus was stopped before they reached their destination and after being told to disperse, they were arrested and charged with unlawful assembly. Among those arrested were children aged
7 to 12 years of age who did not understand what it was all about. Nevertheless
they too were fingerprinted, charged with unlawful assembly, and put on bail. When they appeared the next day in court, the magistrate refused to continue
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.