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HKFP
2 days ago
- Politics
- HKFP
4 Hong Kong activists fined up to HK$6,600 for fundraising and displaying posters without permit
Four Hong Kong pro-democracy activists have been fined up to HK$6,600 after being found guilty of raising funds and displaying posters in public without a permit in 2023. League of Social Democrats (LSD)'s chairperson Chan Po-ying, the group's vice-chairs Dickson Chau and Yu Wai-pan, and activist Lee Ying-chi were convicted on Thursday at the Eastern Magistrates' Courts. They were found guilty of 12 counts of collecting money in a public place without a permit and displaying bills or posters on government land without permission. Before the judge delivered the verdict, the four activists unfurled a banner outside the courthouse accusing authorities of 'suppressing freedom of expression.' The offences were linked to street booths the LSD set up on April 2, April 30, and May 28, 2023, in Causeway Bay and Wan Chai. According to the prosecution, they displayed a blank black cloth and handed out leaflets with QR codes for the party's donation link and its PayMe profile. During the trial earlier this year, the defendants challenged whether the black cloth should be considered a poster and therefore regulated under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance. Magistrate Minnie Wat ruled on Thursday that the black cloth, approximately two metres long, had been displayed in an 'eye-catching spot' at the street booth. Referring to footage recorded by the police, Wat said the defendants had told the public that they hung a blank black cloth because they could be fined if any words were written on the banner. Wat sided with the prosecution, saying that the definition of a poster was 'broad' and that the purpose of the legislation was to impose 'appropriate rules to prevent chaos.' As the black cloth was used to 'spread ideas in public' and was displayed for around two hours each time at the street booths, it met the definition of a poster, she said. 'Although the black cloth had no words, it was displayed to express the defendants' political views and opinions about the government,' the magistrate said in Cantonese. Wat also rejected the defendants' argument that there was no evidence they were raising funds at the street booths. She said the court should not focus solely on whether the word 'fundraising' appeared on the leaflets. Even if the QR code was small, that did not mean the defendants were not soliciting donations. 'They could have removed the QR code and their bank account number if they had no intention of raising funds,' Wat said. During the trial, the defendants questioned why the police only filmed their street booths without taking any action. Wat responded that the legislation does not require police to issue a warning before enforcement. She added that the absence of a warning did not mean the acts were not in breach of the law. Chau, who represented himself, said during the trial that the QR code in fact did not work. At the time, the party's HSBC bank account had already been frozen, he said. Wat eventually convicted the four activists on all 12 charges and fined them between HK$1,000 and HK$1,200 per summons. Chan, who had six summonses, received a total fine of HK$6,600, while Chau, with two summonses, was fined HK$2,000. Lee had three summonses and was fined HK$3,000, and Yu was ordered to pay HK$1,000 for one summons. During mitigation, Chau said the LSD was the last activist group still organising street booths to voice their opinions. In response to the magistrate's remark that the legislation aimed to prevent people from 'fighting for space' to hold street demonstrations, Chau said the magistrate's 'aspiration' was 'far from reality.' 'We only want more people in society to express their views to the government. Unfortunately, the government's response is prosecution,' he said in Cantonese, adding that he had been an activist for over a decade and had not previously been prosecuted for carrying out similar acts. Yu, on the other hand, called the case 'political prosecution' and accused the authorities of 'weaponising' laws to suppress civic rights. 'Even if it is not the national security law but just summons, it is eroding our freedoms step by step, until we can no longer even organise a street booth,' he said in Cantonese. Speaking to reporters after the verdict, Chan said she believed they were innocent but was 'not surprised' by the court's ruling. She said the legislation concerning poster displays used to target banners or posters affixed to street barricades by politicians or political groups, rather than those displayed during a demonstration. She added the legislation contained many 'loopholes' and that their street booth should be regarded as a political activity held sporadically, and therefore should not be subject to regulation.
HKFP
02-05-2025
- Politics
- HKFP
Hong Kong's League of Social Democrats calls for ‘dignity' for workers on Labour Day
Hong Kong's League of Social Democrats (LSD) held a four-person rally outside the government headquarters on Labour Day, calling for the city's working class to be afforded 'dignity' amid economic uncertainties. 'Our banners did not contain any large letters stating 'Against Importing Labour' or any other specific demands. That is because living with dignity sums it all up,' the pro-democracy group said in a statement. 'Be it in the workplace, in life, or in society, we must live as human beings,' it said. The group said that Thursday marked the sixth year that a May Day rally had not been held in Hong Kong. 'The organisations and volunteers holding flags and banners have become distant memories, having vanished for the sixth year,' the statement read. Police stopped LSD chair Chan Po-ying – along with members Dickson Chau; Yu Wai-pan; and Tsang Kin-shing, nicknamed 'The Bull' – on their way to the Central Government Offices in Admiralty. The LSD was previously chaired by 'Long Hair' Leung Kwok-hung, Chan's husband, who is in jail for 'conspiracy to commit subversion' following Hong Kong's largest national security case. He is seeking to overturn his conviction and sentence. 'Vanished from the streets' Speaking outside the government headquarters on Thursday, Chan also lamented the lack of democratic representation within the city's Legislative Council. 'If there were still opposition lawmakers in the legislature, I believe that under economic uncertainty and a slowdown of such proportions, there would be constant discussions about how the government should protect workers' rights,' Chan said. A women workers' group on Sunday urged the government to halt its 'enhanced' labour import scheme, saying it had negatively affected employees' working conditions. Unions under the city's largest pro-Beijing labour coalition, the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (HKFTU), have also made similar calls. The LSD on Thursday also recalled a botched May Day rally in 2020 that saw its members and those of the allied Labour Party arrested and charged under Covid-19 social distancing rules. Since then, any trace of the city's labour movements has 'vanished from the streets,' it said in the statement. The May Day rally in 2020 was held just two months before Beijing imposed the national security law in Hong Kong, which prompted the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) to disband in September the following year. The pro-democracy labour union coalition was among the 50-odd civil society groups that folded in the wake of the passing of the law. In 2023, a planned Labour Day march was scrapped after Joe Wong, former chairperson of the HKCTU, went missing for four hours. Another former member of the union coalition, Denny To, said that Wong withdrew the application for the march, which had yet to receive police approval, after he experienced an 'emotional meltdown.' The HKFTU also called off its own march that year. Union leaders are also among the 45 pro-democracy figures jailed for subversion under the 2020 security law. Pro-Beijing union coalitions, such as the HKFTU and the Federation of Hong Kong and Kowloon Labour Unions, however, are still active. Hong Kong is seeking to tighten union laws on national security grounds, citing a surge in union registrations during the 2019 protests and unrest, as well as 'political' strikes against the government. The government has proposed jail terms of up to three years for national security-related offences under the Trade Unions Ordinance.
South China Morning Post
25-03-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong's Article 23, a year of restraint but what about broader impact?
For Chan Po-ying of the League of Social Democrats, the immediate impact of Hong Kong's local version of the national security law when it came into force a year ago came like a punch to her gut. Advertisement With the passage of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance last March, she would have to wait 2¼ years longer before her husband 'Long Hair' Leung Kwok-hung, a former lawmaker, would be freed. He had been jailed for six years and nine months last November in a landmark sedition trial. Chan, who spent 50 years advocating for the city's social equality and is currently the chairwoman of what was once deemed the radical wing of the pan-democratic camp, had thought Leung could be freed as early as 2027 after deducting his time in custody in the past four years as well as the discretionary one-third cut on his sentence for good conduct. The new law, however, stipulates that a prisoner convicted of national security offences 'must not be granted remission' unless authorities are satisfied the move will not compromise national security. Some activists have already been blocked from such early release after the new national security law was enacted. 'We know we should not bear any hope of early release, or it will only leave behind more disappointment,' 69-year-old Chan said. Advertisement 'All I care about is that his days behind bars can be more fulfilling,' she added, referring to her jailed husband who turns 69 on Thursday. Meanwhile, new law or not, her party continues to be about the only opposition group that still stages protests outside government headquarters.
