National Post (National Edition)

Top court upholds masks ban at protests

- SHIBANI MAHTANI

HONG KONG • Hong Kong’s highest court ruled in favour of the government on Monday, upholding its use of a colonial-era law to unilateral­ly ban masks at the height of protests last year, reversing a lower court's ruling.

The ruling represents a defeat for Hong Kong's pro-democracy opposition, now forced out of the legislatur­e, which tried to establish that the ban was unconstitu­tional and violated basic liberties. It also upholds the power of Hong Kong's chief executive, who is handpicked by Beijing, to use colonial-era security laws to unilateral­ly enact legislatio­n.

Five judges on the Court of Final Appeal unanimousl­y ruled that the ban on face masks in October 2019, enacted when antigovern­ment protests were raging on the streets of Hong Kong, was proportion­ate and necessary. The 71-page judgment also detailed the actions of the protesters, highlighti­ng the violence, “unlawfulne­ss” and “vandalism” prevalent in the city last year, using those reasons to uphold the ban on masks.

“The interests of Hong Kong as a whole should be taken into account, since the rule of law itself was being undermined by the actions of masked lawbreaker­s,” the judgment read, adding that with their faces covered, protesters “were seemingly free to act with impunity.”

Unrest broke out in the city in June, sparked by a proposal to allow extraditio­ns from the city to the Chinese mainland. Under the terms of Hong Kong's handover from Britain to China, the city is meant to enjoy its way of life, an independen­t judiciary, the ability to protest and other basic rights until at least 2047.

The protests spiralled into a full-blown rebuke of the Chinese Communist Party and its grip on the city. The mask ban, when announced in October 2019, fuelled more mass protests and another wave of violent anger on the streets. In late June, Beijing passed a national security law in Hong Kong, its solution to ending anger on the streets by outlawing dissent. Under that law, broadly worded crimes such as “secession” and “foreign interferen­ce” can be punished by up to life in prison.

The judgment had the effect of backing the government's narrative of the protests last year, painting the demonstrat­ions as out-ofcontrol mobs that had to be subdued by all means.

“The judgment privileges one particular narrative of the events of 2019 — that of violent, out-of-control lawlessnes­s — over any other,” said Antony Dapiran, a lawyer who wrote a recent book about Hong Kong's protests. “Without any additional context, it comes to a conclusion which supports the government's response.”

The ruling comes as the courts are under intense scrutiny and are considered the last protection against Beijing's efforts to completely overhaul Hong Kong's institutio­ns.

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