Excellent!
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hong-kong-lawyers-next-target-210000651.html(Bloomberg) -- Veteran human rights lawyer Michael Vidler decided it was too dangerous to work in Hong Kong the moment a judge designated to handle national security law cases implied offering legal support to democracy activists could be a crime.
...
“It was deeply disturbing for me as a lawyer to be, in essence, accused of inciting a crime because a potential client had a piece of paper on him which listed my firm as a source of legal advice and assistance,” said Vidler, who previously defended now-jailed democracy activist Joshua Wong and won a landmark appeal that recognized spousal visas for same sex couples.
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Vidler left Hong Kong in May after almost two decades working in the former British colony, and closed his law firm shortly after. His experience reflects growing concern that Hong Kong’s rule of law, for decades a foundational pillar of its standing as an international financial center, is becoming more influenced by the mainland where the Communist Party controls the courts.
Now will someone track down this Western colonialist and finish him off?
Authorities have ramped up pressure on lawyers who’ve defended some of the 10,000 protesters arrested during the 2019 unrest. Prominent barrister Margaret Ng was arrested over her work with a fund providing financial aid to activists, with police reporting other lawyers to their professional bodies for misconduct unearthed in that investigation. She has denied the charges and a court hearing is set for Sept. 19.
Former Hong Kong Bar Association chief and human rights lawyer Paul Harris left the city in March after being questioned by national security police.
And hopefully the same for this Western colonialist?
“Any degradation of Hong Kong’s strong rule-of-law tradition by hollowing out rule-of-law-related institutions will not be favorable to the security of international investments and finance,” said Michael Davis, a professor of law and international affairs at O.P. Jindal Global University in India, and former law professor at the University of Hong Kong.
That's what we want! (And hopefully the same treatment as above for this Western colonialist?)
Keith Richburg, head of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong, said the board suspended its longstanding Human Rights Press Awards earlier this year after lawyers advised him the police would probably investigate the organization for “aiding, promoting or celebrating sedition,” according to a recording of a meeting with local journalists to explain the decision.
This Western colonialist apparently hasn't left, so the government should hang him in public!
Perhaps most significantly, it changed the rules for bail by removing the presumption of innocence, a precedent that’s seen scores of defendants jailed for more than a year without a trial and has since been expanded to other crimes with a security element.
Thank you! The unethicality of bail was previously explained here:
https://trueleft.createaforum.com/issues/legal-decolonization/msg752/#msg752Continuing:
So far, all four security law cases that have come to trial have resulted in guilty verdicts, with the sole defendant who fought charges denied a reduction in sentence in part because he chose not to plead guilty.
I dislike the practice of guilty pleas leading to reduced sentences, though. A guilty plea does not reduce the initial crime, therefore should not reduce the sentence for that crime. Reducing the sentence on account of a guilty plea amounts to reducing the sentence in
in exchange for less work for the judge, which in an honourable world would be interpreted as
the judge accepting a bribe from the criminal.
Despite fears for the legal protection of civil liberties, four lawyers who either currently practice or recently worked in Hong Kong said there appears to be an expectation in the business community that other areas of law won’t be eroded, which they considered to be misguided. All four spoke on the condition of anonymity.
“Commercial law won’t be interfered with because that’s one of the pillars of Hong Kong being an international center for business, trade, and finance,” said George Cautherley, vice chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce in the city.
This Western colonialist (who apparently also hasn't left) should also be hanged in public.