On Wednesday, Secretary for Justice Paul Lam defended the changes by arguing defendants can choose representation from more than 1,600 barristers in Hong Kong. Critics said the changes will leave defendants with even fewer choices when they look for legal representation in some of the city’s most controversial cases.
The bill was passed by a majority in the city’s legislature, filled by mostly Beijing loyalists, with little opposition through a show-of-hands vote. The city’s leader will only give approval if there are sufficient grounds to believe the lawyers’ involvement will not contradict the interests of national security, and the decision cannot be challenged.
The changes will require overseas lawyers who do not generally practice in Hong Kong to obtain permission from the chief executive before submitting applications to represent clients in national security cases in court. If some editors do not want to let someone use their platform to smear and incite dissatisfaction toward the government through misleading allegations, and they stop these activities, it is a very responsible way to handle this, he said.HONG KONG (AP) - Hong Kong lawmakers on Wednesday passed an amendment to a law granting the city’s leader the power to bar overseas lawyers from handling national security cases, following a high-profile row sparked by a pro-democracy Hong Kong publisher’s hiring of a British lawyer. Security minister Chris Tang, who criticized Wong's work last month, insisted the city's residents have the right to freedom of speech and press under the city's constitution and the security law. “But for false statements or things that are far from facts, we have to clarify to let residents understand about the truth,” she told reporters. The councils were the last major political representative bodies chosen by the public in Hong Kong and will be reduced from some 90% directly elected seats to about 20%, even lower than the level under British colonial rule.Īsked whether the newspaper's decision to halt publication of Wong's cartoons was related to the government's criticism, Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak said she wouldn't comment on decisions made by individual organizations. In his drawing, a man tells a woman that even if some people failed exams and have health problems, they can still be appointed to the committees as long as the “senior officers” deemed they are suitable.Īccording to the government plan to overhaul district councils, local committees staffed by many government supporters will choose about 40% of the 470 seats. Most recently, the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau slammed his work for “smearing” the government's role of appointing local committee members who will choose candidates in district council elections later this year. Multiple cartoons by Wong have been criticized in recent months by different government agencies, including the security bureau. Authorities have also increasingly used a colonial-era sedition law to target critical voices. Since Beijing imposed a sweeping National Security Law following massive pro-democracy protests in 2019, the city’s art and media communities have learned to be wary of crossing vaguely defined red lines in producing art and other content that might be perceived as challenging Communist Party control. If it had been other platforms, the halting of publication would have happened way earlier,” Wong said. “Honestly, I appreciate very much that Ming Pao let my cartoons be published until now. He will try to find other channels to publish his cartoons, he said. Wong said he feels the city’s freedoms of speech and expression are shrinking but that he will continue to create as long as he is able to.
0 kommentar(er)
