Accused of siding with activists, HK Bar chair urged to go

Chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association Paul Harris was urged to step down on Monday after remarks he made that appeared to be supportive of participants in 2019’s social unrest sparked criticism from legal professionals and residents in the city.

In an interview with local online media on Wednesday, Harris used the term “peaceful protests” to describe two illegal assemblies that were held in August that year. His comments came after the city’s High Court, in two cases, sentenced 10 activists — including media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying — for their roles in the assemblies.

Harris is the defense attorney for one of the convicted activists.

Leung Chun-ying, vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, said on Sunday that with his “arrogant” and “outrageous” remarks, Harris is dragging the HKBA down and making Hong Kong suffer as a result of collateral damage.

“He should step down forthwith before it is too late,” Leung stressed on social media platform Facebook.

Wong Kit-hin, chairman of the Hong Kong Legal Professionals Association, agreed. In a statement on Monday, Wong said the HKBA has to sever ties with the anti-China Western politician to restore its legal professionalism and prove its allegiance to the city and the country.

On Monday afternoon, a group of Hong Kong residents staged a rally outside the High Court in Admiralty, saying Harris had “confused right and wrong” and denouncing him for trying to slander the democracy and freedoms Hong Kong has enjoyed since its return to the motherland.

Resident Wong Lai-yin attended the rally. She said that Harris’ repeated misstatements were misleading the public, especially the young generation. Any foreign comments on Hong Kong’s legal cases should be based on facts and should not interfere with the city’s judicial independence, she noted.

Criticizing Harris for “whitewashing violence”, and “challenging the rule of law”, the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on Sunday issued a statement refuting his remarks, saying he backed up lawbreakers, slandered law enforcement agencies and put pressure on the judiciary.

“The remarks made by Harris went against professional ethics and the spirit of the rule of law,” an office spokesperson said.

The spokesperson noted that Harris has served the interests of the United Kingdom’s Liberal Democrats Party, of which he is a member.

The spokesperson questioned whether Harris, as an anti-China politician with close connections with foreign forces, can genuinely maintain the rule of law and the HKSAR Basic Law by supporting “one country, two systems” as promised in an HKBA statement earlier this year.

Since taking over as chairman of the HKBA in January, Harris has also repeatedly made unwarranted remarks on Hong Kong’s national security law and challenged the authority of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress as well as Hong Kong’s rule of law and constitutional order, the spokesperson noted.

However, Harris did not utter a word when the UK government pushed for legislation under which demonstrators who vandalized memorials could be jailed for up to 10 years, the spokesperson added.