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HKFP
3 days ago
- Politics
- HKFP
Tightened prison rules restricting visits on nat. security grounds to take effect on Friday
Tightened prison rules restricting lawyers and religious leaders from visiting inmates will take effect on Friday, just two weeks after the authorities proposed the amendments. The fast-tracked legislative amendments will allow the Correctional Services Department (CSD) to restrict or even ban a person from visiting an inmate on certain grounds, including safeguarding national security. The proposal will be gazetted and passed directly into law on Friday under 'negative vetting' procedures, allowing it to come into effect before being scrutinised by lawmakers on Wednesday next week. The government proposes the amendments 'to ensure that we can effectively prevent, suppress and impose punishment for acts and activities endangering national security,' said the Security Bureau in a statement on Wednesday. 'Amidst the present complicated geopolitical situation, national security risks still exist. It is necessary to amend the [Prison Rules] as soon as possible to prevent and resolve relevant risks in a timely manner, the earlier the better, for safeguarding national security effectively.' New rules The new rules would grant the CSD the power to refuse any visits that do not comply with statutory purposes, such as facilitating the rehabilitation of inmates and their reintegration into society. The government also proposes restricting the visitation rights of religious leaders and lawyers if authorities see a need to protect national security. Existing rules allow a chaplain to visit a prisoner 'at all reasonable times.' The government also suggests that the CSD can apply for a warrant from a magistrate to bar an inmate from communicating with a legal representative, in person or in writing, as well as with anyone associated with the law firm concerned. The proposal to restrict communications between inmates and lawyers appears to be a response to the convictions of pro-democracy activist Owen Chow and his lawyer, Phyllis Woo, who were found guilty last year of removing a complaint letter from prison without the CSD's approval. Woo is seeking to take her case to the city's top appeals court, with a hearing still pending. The amendments are also set to abolish existing provisions allowing people in detention awaiting trial to wear their own clothes and order meals from outside prison. Other proposals include expanding prison officers' powers to safeguard national security in areas such as regulating and screening letters coming in and out of prisons, handling books from outside, and imposing solitary confinement.
France 24
6 days ago
- Politics
- France 24
Hong Kong court hears appeals by jailed democracy campaigners
They were among 45 opposition figures, including some of Hong Kong's best-known democracy activists, who were sentenced in November over a 2020 informal primary election that authorities deemed a subversive plot. Critics including the United States, Britain and the European Union said the case showed how a Beijing-imposed national security law has eroded freedoms and quashed peaceful opposition in Hong Kong. Ex-lawmakers "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung, Lam Cheuk-ting, Helena Wong and Raymond Chan are among those contesting their convictions and sentences in hearings that are scheduled to last 10 days. Owen Chow, a 28-year-old activist who was sentenced to seven years and nine months in jail -- the harshest penalty among the dozen -- has also lodged an appeal. Former district councillor Michael Pang withdrew his appeal application on Monday morning, leaving a total of 12 appellants. Some of them have already spent more than four years behind bars. Amnesty International's China director Sarah Brooks said the appeal will be a "pivotal test" for free expression in the Chinese finance hub. "Only by overturning these convictions can Hong Kong's courts begin to restore the city's global standing as a place where rights are respected and where people are allowed to peacefully express their views without fear of arrest," Brooks said. Dozens of police officers were deployed outside the West Kowloon court building on Monday morning as people queued to attend the hearing. "They made a sacrifice... I hope they understand that Hongkongers have not forgotten them," said a public hospital worker in his thirties surnamed Chow. A 66-year-old retiree surnamed Chan said the case made him feel "helpless", adding that fewer people were paying attention as court proceedings dragged on. "I don't expect any (positive) outcome, but I still want to support them." Prosecutors seek reversal Prosecutors began Monday's session by challenging the acquittal of lawyer Lawrence Lau, one of two people found not guilty in May 2024 from an original group of 47 accused. Lau's "overall conduct" showed that he was party to the conspiracy and he should be tried again because the lower court made the wrong factual finding, the prosecution argued. Lau, representing himself, replied that the trial court's findings should not be "casually interfered" with. "... I have never advocated for the resignation of the chief executive, I have never advocated the indiscriminate vetoing of the financial budget," Lau told the court, referring to core tenets of the alleged conspiracy. Beijing has remoulded Hong Kong in its authoritarian image after imposing a sweeping national security law in 2020 following months of huge, and sometimes violent, pro-democracy demonstrations. Authorities arrested figures from a broad cross-section of the city's opposition in morning raids in 2021, a group later dubbed the "Hong Kong 47". The group, aged between 27 and 69, included democratically elected lawmakers and district councillors, as well as unionists, academics and others with political stances ranging from modest reformists to radical localists. They were accused of organising or taking part in an unofficial primary election, which aimed to improve the chances of pro-democracy parties of winning a majority in the legislature. The activists had hoped to force the government to accede to demands such as universal suffrage by threatening to indiscriminately veto the budget. Three senior judges handpicked by the government to try security cases said the plan would have caused a "constitutional crisis".
France 24
6 days ago
- Politics
- France 24
Hong Kong court to hear appeals by jailed democracy campaigners
They were among 45 opposition figures, including some of Hong Kong's best-known democracy activists, who were sentenced in November over a 2020 informal primary election that authorities deemed a subversive plot. Critics including the United States, Britain and the European Union said the case showed how a Beijing-imposed national security law has eroded freedoms and quashed peaceful opposition in Hong Kong. Ex-lawmakers "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung, Lam Cheuk-ting, Helena Wong and Raymond Chan are among those contesting their convictions and sentences in hearings that are scheduled to last 10 days. Owen Chow, a 28-year-old activist who was sentenced to seven years and nine months in jail -- the harshest penalty among the 13 -- has also lodged an appeal. Some of the appellants have already spent more than four years behind bars. Amnesty International's China director Sarah Brooks said the appeal will be a "pivotal test" for free expression in the Chinese finance hub. "Only by overturning these convictions can Hong Kong's courts begin to restore the city's global standing as a place where rights are respected and where people are allowed to peacefully express their views without fear of arrest," Brooks said. Morning raids Prosecutors will concurrently challenge on Monday the lower court's acquittal of lawyer Lawrence Lau, one of two people found not guilty from an original group of 47 accused. Activist Tam Tak-chi, who pleaded guilty in the subversion case, had also indicated he would appeal against his sentence but withdrew. Beijing has remoulded Hong Kong in its authoritarian image after imposing a sweeping national security law in 2020 following months of huge, and sometimes violent, pro-democracy demonstrations. Authorities arrested figures from a broad cross-section of the city's opposition in morning raids in 2021, a group later dubbed the "Hong Kong 47". The group, aged between 27 and 69, included democratically elected lawmakers and district councillors, as well as unionists, academics and others with political stances ranging from modest reformists to radical localists. They were accused of organising or taking part in an unofficial primary election, which aimed to improve the chances of pro-democracy parties of winning a majority in the legislature. The activists had hoped to force the government to accede to demands such as universal suffrage by threatening to indiscriminately veto the budget. Three senior judges handpicked by the government to try security cases said the plan would have caused a "constitutional crisis". Beijing and Hong Kong officials have defended the national security law as being necessary to restore order following the 2019 protests. Opposition party the League of Social Democrats -- co-founded by Leung -- announced its disbandment last month, citing "immense political pressure". Eight of the jailed campaigners, including journalist and lawmaker Claudia Mo and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham, have been released in recent weeks after completing their sentences. © 2025 AFP
South China Morning Post
07-07-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong prisons will offer proof if seeking to ban specific lawyers: Chris Tang
Hong Kong's security chief has said authorities will provide sufficient evidence and 'intelligence' to support any move to restrict specific lawyers from visiting inmates, in response to a lawmaker who called such a measure under proposed prison rule changes 'ridiculous'. Advertisement Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung told a security panel meeting on Monday that a magistrate would need to be satisfied with the government's submissions to grant a court warrant to restrict legal visits. He added that authorities would have 'intelligence' for suspected behaviour that would violate the proposed five 'key purposes' for prison visits. 'We will tell the court if we have intelligence from somewhere else that a lawyer might help smuggle [objects] out of the prison,' Tang said, referring to a past case without getting into specifics. Activist Owen Chow Ka-shing, who is currently serving jail time under the national security law, was fined HK$1,800 (US$230) for instructing one of his legal advisers to take his complaint against the Correctional Services Department to the Office of the Ombudsman. Tang was responding to lawmaker Paul Tse Wai-chun, who questioned how authorities could gather sufficient evidence to file a court warrant to limit a specific lawyer or members of their firm from contacting a designated inmate, when legal visits in prisons were confidential in nature. Advertisement 'On what grounds could the government apply for this warrant, if [officers] could not listen to the meeting's content? If this warrant is challenged by judicial review, the government would need to make explanations. What evidence would be used to support this?' Tse asked.
Free Malaysia Today
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
HK to tighten prison rules, citing national security
Hong Kong arrested more than 10,200 people in connection with the 2019 protests. (AP pic) HONG KONG : Hong Kong proposed new rules today that could restrict prisoners from seeing certain visitors and lawyers, changes that officials say are needed to combat 'national security risks'. The city's prison population has swelled in recent years after authorities arrested more than 10,200 people in connection with the huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019. Beijing then imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in 2020 and city officials separately passed a homegrown security law last year. 'National security risks still exist. It is necessary to amend the (prison rules) as soon as possible to prevent and resolve relevant risks in a timely manner,' Hong Kong's security bureau wrote in a submission to the legislature. Officials argued that the current visiting system had been abused 'by some people using 'humanitarian relief' as a pretext to visit for influencing' prisoners to resist the authorities. The proposal would also allow prison authorities to apply for a magistrate's warrant to bar a prisoner from meeting specific lawyers to 'prevent any risks arising from the abuse of the legal visit system'. Officials said such restrictions are in line with those in the US, Britain and Australia. Jailed activist Owen Chow and his lawyer were found guilty last year of flouting prison rules after they failed to use the proper channels to deliver a complaint letter. The wide-ranging document presented to the legislature also proposed abolishing systems allowing for 'private clothes' and 'private diet', as well as amending rules on sending and receiving letters. Almost 10,000 people were in Hong Kong correctional institutions as of March, with a record 3,900 of them not formally convicted of any crime. Officials say the rule changes will be finalised soon for vetting in the legislature. Hong Kong authorities have for years put pressure on the small groups that offer material and emotional support to jailed demonstrators. One prominent organisation, Wall-fare, closed in 2021 after the city's security chief accused it of endangering national security in prisons.
