politicsprotest
A Hong Kong court has upheld a lower judge’s decision that the city’s courts do not have jurisdiction over the national security committee, effectively barring media mogul Jimmy Lai from challenging the government after it forbid him from hiring a British lawyer for his trial. Three Court of Appeal judges sided with the High Court judge’s decision, per a written judgement published on Monday. Lai’s lawyer Philip Dykes had construed the relevant text in the national security law, as well as the interpretation Beijing issued in December 2022, in a “contrived manner,” the judges wrote. The appeal...
Hong Kong Free Press
A radical group in Hong Kong spent over HK$100,000 to acquire around 100 petrol bombs per confrontation during the protests and unrest in 2019, a court has heard. Prosecution witness Wong Chun-keung, leader of the group named “Dragon Slayers,” also testified on Monday that his group formed in August 2019 as a team of “elite” violent protesters which targeted the police during confrontations. Wong said they were financed by unidentified professionals such as lawyers, lawmakers, and journalists in the city. Seven people are standing trial at the High Court over an alleged bomb plot to murder pol...
Hong Kong Free Press
A US bill has been introduced to rename part of the street in front of Hong Kong’s representative office in Washington DC “Jimmy Lai Way.” The move aims to honour the 76-year-old media tycoon currently facing a national security trial in Hong Kong, though the city’s government urged the US not to “interfere” in its affairs when approached by HKFP for a response on Monday. According to a press release from Republican congressman Chris Smith last Thursday, the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office would be forced to state its address as “1 Jimmy Lai Way” in reference to “the renowned Hong Kong human r...
Hong Kong Free Press
A prosecution witness testifying at media mogul Jimmy Lai’s national security trial has said he spent 65 hours in meetings with police officers without giving official statements following his arrest under the national security law. Excluding meetings where police took written and videotaped statements, paralegal Chan Tsz-wah spent 65 hours talking to officers about his “physical and emotional state” and life in detention, a panel of three handpicked national security judges heard on Monday. Chan, who stands accused of conspiring with Lai and others to collude with foreign forces but has plead...
Hong Kong Free Press
A Hong Kong judge sided with a teacher who was fired over online comments about police in 2019, ruling that the authorities’ decision to dismiss her was “oppressive.” Toffee Tam, a veteran teacher, won her case against the Civil Service Bureau at the High Court on Friday. She lodged a judicial review last October, three months after losing her job at a government secondary school. She was also stripped of her retirement benefits. The Civil Service Bureau had accused her of publishing Facebook posts between June and September 2019 that negatively affected students and tarnished the government’s...
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong is set to raise the hourly minimum wage by 4.5 per cent to HK$41.8, local media have reported citing sources. The Minimum Wage Commission will also reportedly review the amount annually going forward, rather than every two years. The adjustment would come after years of calls from labour activists for more frequent assessments to keep pace with inflation. The city’s minimum wage is currently set at HK$40. It was most recently raised by HK$2.50 last year after remaining frozen at HK$37.50 since 2019, with Chief Executive John Lee saying he wanted to thank workers for their “important ...
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong’s new, homegrown security law does not undermine press freedom, the city’s justice secretary has stated, amid concern that legislation against external interference and theft of state secrets may affect reporting. In an opinion piece published in Ming Pao on Monday, Secretary for Justice Paul Lam said Article 23 would not have any “unreasonable restrictions” on the work of the media. Criticism against the government was allowed “no matter how sharp or severe,” he added. “As long as the media industry adheres to the professional principles of truth-seeking, fairness, objectivity, impa...
Hong Kong Free Press
Legislative Council member and Executive Council convenor Regina Ip has criticised the Hong Kong government’s aggressive, “wolf-warrior” style of addressing overseas critics, especially critics of our new national security regime. Interviewed by Ming Pao, she implied that this style (always “refute,” “firmly oppose,” “strongly condemn”) undermines Hong Kong’s ability to connect with the international community. ”Openness,” she said, is the key to success. When ”people come and money comes… this is the only way to be successful. And if it’s too much of a fighting style, it won’t work… If it’s t...
Hong Kong Free Press
A prosecution witness testifying in Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai’s national security trial has said he lied to the police earlier, including when he told officers he was not a member of Stand With Hong Kong, an activist group that urged foreign sanctions on city. Chan Tsz-wah, a paralegal who was charged alongside Lai but has pleaded guilty, appeared at West Kowloon Law Courts Building on Friday as the defence continued questioning him. Representing Lai, lawyer Mark Corlett brought up Stand With Hong Kong, a pro-democracy group that called on foreign governments to impose sanctions on the c...
Hong Kong Free Press
Pro-Beijing groups in Hong Kong are seeking to organise a carnival in part of Causeway Bay’s Victoria Park, where annual vigils were held for decades to mark the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown. The event period is set to cover the crackdown’s 35th anniversary on June 4. The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) told HKFP on Friday that an organisation had applied to use the football pitches, central lawn and basketball courts for a public event between May 27 and June 8. The application was being handled at the moment, the department said. The department did not provide any further informa...
Hong Kong Free Press
閲覧を続けるには、ノアドット株式会社が「プライバシーポリシー」に定める「アクセスデータ」を取得することを含む「nor.利用規約」に同意する必要があります。
「これは何?」という方はこちら