Tan Dezhi was arrested. Tang Jiahua said he continued to curse or reach the threshold of conviction. Chen Wenmin worried about the narrowing of freedom

Political situation

Written by: Wu Zhuoan

2020-09-06 22:36

Last update date: 2020-09-06 22:37

The National Security Office of the Police came today (September 6) to arrest the Deputy Chairman of the People's Forces Tan Dezhi, accusing him of violating Article 10 of the Criminal Offences Ordinance by publishing seditious words.

The crime of incitement was a product of the June 7 riots. It has not been used for a long time after the reunification. It was not used until the arrest of the chairman of the Central and Western District Council in March this year. The issue of the provisions and thresholds of the relevant laws has caused discussion.

Senior Counsel Tang Jiahua, a member of the Executive Council, believes that simply criticizing the government for incompetence or improper handling of things is more difficult to reach the criminal threshold. However, like contempt of court, if the relevant terms are more extreme, it is a continuous curse or a criminal threshold.

Hong Kong University Law School’s Public Law Chair Professor and Honorary Barrister Chen Wenmin stated that according to past precedents, the courts will have stricter guidelines to avoid narrowing the freedom of speech due to the low threshold of crimes. When the relevant texts promote violence or intend to promote violence Elements can convict.

Chen Wenmin pointed out that the regulations were aimed at some Communist Party members declaring the Cultural Revolution and spreading news in Hong Kong. He described the arrest of Tan Dezhi as a bit ironic.

(Photo by Deng Qianying / Profile Picture)

Tang Jiahua points out that the law does not allow "speaking of crimes"　

The police arrested Tan Dezhi on the crime of sedition, which aroused criticism and worry that guilty of words.

Chief Lecturer Zhang Daming of the Hong Kong University Law School believes that the meaning of the Ordinance itself is extremely broad and vague. According to the logic of this police arrest, it may objectively lead to "criticizing the government and breaking the law" in the future. The situation is worrying.

Tang Jiahua pointed out that laws will not be "outdated." Certain laws were not used in the past, which does not mean that they cannot be used now. The Criminal Offences Ordinance itself is part of Hong Kong's laws. Whether individual provisions meet the protection of human rights depends on individual cases. content.

Tang Jiahua pointed out that if a crime is committed through words, the threshold is relatively strict. It is more difficult to reach the threshold simply by criticizing the government for incompetence or improper handling.

However, if the relevant term is more extreme and is a continuous curse, or may reach the relevant threshold, the conviction or otherwise will depend on the content of the case and the words used.

He used the crime of contempt of court as an analogy, the same as committing crimes based on speech. In the past, a large number of court cases showed that the behavior of the convicted person must meet certain conditions, including the need for a considerable opportunity to hate and contempt the court. "(The offender) didn't do it once or twice, or affected one or two people, but continued to do it, which caused widespread hatred of the court."

Tang Jiahua said that many people think that the law does not allow "speaking of crimes", but he pointed out that some speech also violates criminal offences, such as defamation and contempt of court mentioned above.

Regarding the Tan Dezhi case, Tang Jiahua pointed out that it was inconvenient to discuss the case during the judicial process. However, he said that for the time being, he did not see that "criticizing the government" would arouse hatred and dissatisfaction among different classes of society, and he was not worried about "crimination with words."

+15

+15

+15

Chen Wenmin pointed out that the Sedition Act was aimed at Communist Party members in Hong Kong during the British colonial period when they declared the Cultural Revolution and spread news in Hong Kong. He described the arrest of Tan Dezhi as a bit ironic.

Chen Wenmin pointed out that according to past precedents, in order to avoid narrowing the freedom of speech due to the low threshold of crime, the court can only convict a crime when the relevant text contains elements that promote violence or intend to promote violence. He also believes that the court needs to consider the requirements of the Human Rights Law and the Basic Law. , I believe the court will adopt higher standards and standards.

Chen Wenmin said in an interview with the media that he is worried that the police seem to have often imposed laws to restrict citizens' freedom of speech, which makes people worry about whether Hong Kong has entered the "police era".

Tan Dezhi Arrested | Can the reactivation of the ancient colonial law be guilty of inciting hatred of the government?

Scholar: The definition is too broad

"Quiebi" Tan Dezhishe was arrested for publishing seditious text: Propaganda content aroused hatred of the government

Police arrested when Tan Dezhi published seditious texts during the street station: speech caused hatred and contempt of the government

Tan Dezhi sent masks to "five major demands" and raised the purple flag to violate national security laws

Tan Dezhi Tang Jiahua