A 90-year-old Roman Catholic cardinal and five others were yesterday fined by a Hong Kong court after being found guilty of failing to register a now-defunct fund that aimed to help people arrested in widespread protests three years ago.
Cardinal Joseph Zen (陳日君), a retired bishop and a vocal Hong Kong democracy advocate, arrived at court in a black outfit and used a walking stick.
He was in May arrested on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces under the Beijing-imposed National Security Law. His arrest sent shockwaves through Hong Kong’s Catholic community, and the Vatican at the time said it was monitoring the development of the situation closely.
Photo: EPA-EFE
While Zen the and other democracy advocates have not yet been charged with national security-related offenses, they were charged with failing to properly register the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, which helped pay medical and legal fees for arrested protesters beginning in 2019. It ceased operations in October last year.
Zen was a trustee of the fund, alongside singer Denise Ho (何韻詩), academic Hui Po-keung (許寶強), and former pro-democracy Hong Kong lawmakers Margaret Ng (吳靄儀) and Cyd Ho (何秀蘭).
They were each fined HK$4,000 (US$512).
Photo: REUTERS
A sixth defendant, Sze Ching-wee (施城威), was the fund’s secretary and was fined HK$2,500.
The Hong Kong Societies Ordinance requires local organizations to register or apply for an exemption within a month of their establishment. Those who failed to do so face a fine of up to HK$10,000, with no jail time, upon first conviction.
Handing down the verdict, Principal Magistrate Ada Yim (嚴舜儀) ruled that the fund is considered an organization that is obliged to register, as it was not purely for charity purposes.
The judgement holds significance as it is the first time that residents had to face a charge under the ordinance for failing to register, Ng told reporters after the hearing.
“The effect to other people, to the many, many citizens who are associated together to do one thing or another, and what will happen to them, is very important,” said Ng, a veteran lawyer. “It is also extremely important about the freedom of association in Hong Kong under Societies Ordinance.”
Zen said his case should not be linked with the territory’s religious freedoms.
“I haven’t seen any erosion of religious freedoms in Hong Kong,” he said.
The 2019 protests were sparked by a since-withdrawn bill that would have allowed criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China. Critics worried that such suspects would disappear into China’s opaque and frequently abusive legal system. Opposition morphed into months of unrest in the territory.
The National Security Law has crippled Hong Kong’s democracy ndmovement since its enactment in 2020, with many democracy advocates being arrested or jailed.
The impact of the law has also damaged faith in the future of the territory, with a growing number of people responding to the shrinking freedoms by emigrating.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
RSS