HK court fines 16 members of Falun Gong over protest

A Hong Kong court fined 16 Falun Gong members yesterday for public obstruction and other offences during a protest against China, in a case that has raised fears about personal freedoms here under Chinese rule.

Magistrate Symon Wong could have jailed the members of the group, which is outlawed in mainland China.

This was the first time that members of the controversial spiritual movement had been prosecuted in Hong Kong, where personal rights under previous laws were retained after China took the territory back from Britain in 1997.

The 16 defendants, including four Swiss, one New Zealander and two US residents from Hong Kong, remained defiant.

Pumping clenched fists in the air, they shouted: "We are not guilty! We will not pay a single cent! We will appeal!"

In his verdict, the magistrate said: "The defendants had paid absolutely no regard to the public during the demonstration. ... The defendants were in open defiance of the laws of Hong Kong."

The court fined each defendant between HK$1,300 and HK$3,800 (US$165 to US$485), well below the maximum penalties, which included jail terms of up to two years.

Political say the charges coincided with what appeared to be a hardening of resolve by the territory's leader, Tung Chee-hwa (董建華), to get tough on China's critics.

All 16 were found guilty of public obstruction. Nine were also convicted of willfully obstructing police and three with assaulting police officers. All had pleaded not guilty.

The group was charged after a protest on a wide pavement outside China's main political office in Hong Kong on March 14, when they denounced the crackdown on Falun Gong on the mainland.

In his decision, the magistrate said people in Hong Kong had the right to protest and hold demonstrations and he stressed that such rights should be protected.

"But one thing is for sure: these rights are not absolute. They require a very delicate balance, having regard to overall circumstances, such as the time and place," Wong said, adding that the members' actions had been unlawful and unreasonable.

John Clancey, a lawyer for the defendants, said after the verdict: "If this magistrate is correct, no one can really hold any demonstration in Hong Kong, which is a right protected by the Basic Law [Hong Kong's constitution]."