Future in doubt for those accused of assaulting police while power of police is protected by law

Editor’s Note : This is a Facebook post written by Au Nok-Hin, a pro-democracy district councillor who has actively participated in Hong Kong’s social movement. He was recently found guilty of assaulting a police officer back in August 2019. Last month, he was arrested for his involvement in several unauthorized assemblies.

Since I still need to go to the Social Welfare Department regarding the probation report, in order not to influence the sentencing, I cannot speak my mind fully but will share a few points with caution. Some of these points come from the petition.

In this trial, I have always exercised the right of silence given to me by law, out of my true belief that I never had any intention to assault the police. At the end of the trial, I was found guilty and I have nothing further to add. At present, I have to first go through the sentencing procedure. 

As Acting Chief Magistrate Ko Wai-hung said in an earlier case of assault on a police officer in Sha Tin, he found a lack of sentencing guidelines for the offence of assaulting a police officer. As a lawmaker who has long participated in social movements, I understand that the charge of assaulting a police officer, to a certain extent, is to protect police authority. The sentence can be a fine, social service order and can also be imprisonment.

Before serving in public office, teaching in higher education institutes is a career I wanted to undertake for life. Before I became a legislative councillor, I was a teacher. At present, my only worry is whether I can still pursue a lifelong teaching career in higher education institutes, even after I attain further study in future. Shiu Ka-chun, a member of the Legislative Council, was suspended from Baptist University after he was sentenced for participating in the Umbrella Movement. Is there still room in higher education institutes for different voices? I am doubtful. This has ruined my reputation and I am worried about this unpredictable future in the long run.

Perhaps the government has no understanding of how prosecution can seriously affect the lives of many. In the past nine months, for instance, a young person was alleged of possessing a parcel containing projectiles and metal marbles. He was detained for 72 days for nothing as the prosecution was withdrawn in the end. A Form 6 student was beaten up by police in Tai Po resulting in cerebral haemorrhage, a badly wounded right hand and difficulty in writing. The trauma rendered him unable to attend any public examinations. Yet no one was held accountable for these. A defendant attended trial with obvious bone injuries. The magistrate did not ask how the defendant sustained the injury but asked why he should care about it.

Hence, as mentioned in my petition, Ronald Dworkin said while a court considers the laws about safeguarding police authority, inevitably it should also consider social construct. He disagreed with H.L.A. Hart that the law is the rule, neutral and unbiased, and does not have to be related to social norms and morals. More importantly, the verdicts from these cases will be casting the future for Hong Kong. 

Mr Michael John Hartmann, a former non-permanent judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, was a reporter in Zimbabwe under dictatorship in his early years. For representing two air force personnel in a lawsuit, he was politically suppressed, and was even charged and fined for contempt of court. I wonder when he applied to become a prosecutor in Hong Kong, whether he thought the charges laid on him in Zimbabwe would have an impact on his future? In any case, not every person could get the same opportunity as Hartmann. He was relieved from Zimbabwe’s political circumstances and left the country to find a new life.

A charge of crime affects a person for life. For many, leaving is not a choice and there is no guarantee that Hong Kong will remain a home, a society which allows different political views. 

Case after case of assault on police officer will be trialed in the future which will determine how the court interprets the use of public power. I can only say this: as one of the seven thousand (arrestees), I share the suffering. I hope you all hang in there and keep going.

Au Nok-hin, 6 April 2020

Source: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2801019603321749&id=581689778588087