National security provision needs to be passed in Hong Kong’s Basic Law: expert
Hong Kong’s legislative body needs to pass the national security provision of Article 23 of the Basic Law to maintain stability and order, experts said, after the region’s high court sentenced “Occupy Central” activists to a few months in jail on Wednesday.
Hong Kong “Occupy Central” activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung and 19 other activists were found guilty of criminal contempt of court because they refused to obey a court order to clear a protest zone in November 2014.
Four of the defendants had pled guilty, while the other 16 were sentenced to jail terms on Wednesday, Hong Kongbased newspaper Wenweipo reported Wednesday.
Wong was sentenced to a second jail term of three months on Wednesday by Hong Kong’s High Court for his leading role during the “Occupy Central” movement in 2014.
He had been on bail pending an appeal against another six-month jail sentence for charges related to the illegal movement.
“A few months’ jail term has a limited impact on these secessionists, and the judge also cannot prevent more youths from following these activists. Wong and his followers will continue their activities after they are released from prison, and they might even gain more political capital from their experience in jail,” Tian Feilong, an associate professor at Beihang University’s Law School in Beijing, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
Raphael Wong, another activist who also participated in illegal violent protests but refused to plead guilty, has been sentenced to four months and 15 days in jail, the Hong Kong-based newspaper reported.
“Given Article 23 of the Basic Law (on national security) is yet to be legislated, Hong Kong could only impose a lighter sentence on ‘Occupy Central’ activists who illegally and violently interrupted social order but issued heavier sentences on policemen who safeguarded social order. Such a situation can’t effectively safeguard Hong Kong’s stability,” Tian said.
“In order to maintain the stability and social order of Hong Kong, Article 23 must be legislated,” he said.