Latest news with #CorrectionalServicesDepartment
HKFP
13-05-2025
- Politics
- HKFP
Jailed Hong Kong activist Owen Chow, lawyer lose appeals over prison letter convictions
Jailed Hong Kong activist Owen Chow and his lawyer have lost their appeals against convictions for removing a complaint letter from prison without prior approval in 2023. Chow, one of 45 opposition figures convicted last year of conspiring to subvert state power under the Beijing-imposed national security law, appeared in the High Court on Monday alongside assistant solicitor Phyllis Woo. Last year, a magistrate found the two guilty over a complaint letter that Chow gave to Woo during a prison visit in May 2023. The solicitor took the letter out of the Lai Chi Kok detention centre and sent it to the Ombudsman, a government watchdog. The magistrate sentenced Chow to three days in jail and fined Woo HK$1,800 in August. The pair later appealed their convictions, while Chow also challenged his sentence. Judge Judianna Barnes on Monday rejected the pair's appeals against their convictions. However, she quashed Chow's three-day jail term and ordered him to pay a HK$1,800 fine instead. Barnes sided with the magistrate in finding that the letter of complaint was not authorised to leave the prison without being subject to security checks by the authorities. She also agreed with the magistrate's observation that Chow, in the absence of a correctional officer during his meeting with Woo in prison, had 'discreetly' folded another document in half and concealed the letter therein, before giving the two documents to Woo. Chow's 'purpose was for [Woo] to bring the unauthorised [letter of complaint] out of prison without the Correctional Services Department knowing,' Barnes wrote in the judgment. The judge also noted that, based on CCTV footage, Woo had seen Chow folding the documents in half before giving them to her. She ruled that the lawyer was aware the letter of complaint was an unauthorised document. But Barnes also noted that Chow was never informed of his right to apply to have the letter delivered out of prison by a third party, and that a fine would be an appropriate sentence for the activist. Chow, wearing a brown jacket, threw a smile toward the public gallery and had a brief discussion with his lawyers before being led away by correctional officers. The activist, currently serving seven years and nine months in prison for the national security case, has also appealed his subversion conviction and sentence, with a hearing scheduled for July. Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong's mini-constitution in June 2020 following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts – broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers and led to hundreds of arrests amid new legal precedents, while dozens of civil society groups disappeared. The authorities say it restored stability and peace to the city, rejecting criticism from trade partners, the UN and NGOs.
HKFP
30-04-2025
- Politics
- HKFP
Hong Kong corrections dept. defends use of private vehicles to release 4 democrats from prison
Hong Kong's corrections department has defended the use of private vehicles for the release of four former lawmakers who completed their jail terms for their involvement in an unofficial 2020 primary election. The Correctional Services Department (CSD) told HKFP on Tuesday that it would 'make appropriate arrangements' for the release of prisoners based on factors such as the security and order of the prison, as well as the privacy and safety of the person in custody. 'The Correctional Services Department handles matters concerning the custody and discharge of persons in custody strictly in accordance with the law,' the CSD wrote in an email to HKFP. HKFP sent enquiries to the CSD shortly after former pro-democracy lawmakers Claudia Mo, Gary Fan, Jeremy Tam, and Kwok Ka-ki were released from prison early Tuesday morning. Mo was released from the Lo Wu Correctional Institution, while Fan left Lantau's Shek Pik Prison. Tam and Kwok were discharged from Stanley Prison. The four were the first group of 45 democrats to be discharged from prison in the early morning of Tuesday after being sentenced in the city's largest national security trial in November. The former legislators were jailed for four years and two months after pleading guilty to the charge of conspiracy to commit subversion. Instead of walking out of prison as released detainees usually do, Mo, Fan, Tam, and Kwok left their respective detention facilities in seven-seater vehicles with curtains drawn. Journalists at the scene were barred from following the cars as police set up cordons when the vehicles drove away. Members of the press waited at the democrats' homes, with local media outlet HK01 capturing Fan on video as he arrived at his residence in Tseung Kwan O. The ex-legislator said he was heading home to reunite with his family and thanked Hongkongers and the media for their concern. Journalists also visited Mo's home. Her husband, Philip Bowring, confirmed with reporters that Mo was inside the flat and resting, adding she was 'well and in good spirits.' Inside the living room of Mo's home, there was a banner that read: 'Welcome Home Mum.' In a Facebook post on Tuesday, activist Figo Chan questioned why the democrats were escorted from prison to their homes, suggesting that this practice was unusual. He said the same arrangement was made in January 2022, when independence activist Edward Leung was released from jail after being sentenced to six years for rioting in 2016. 'No one could witness it firsthand. This time, I really want to thank your media friends for waiting at various prisons from the early morning… allowing everyone to see it for themselves,' Chan wrote in Chinese. Three handpicked national security judges ruled that the 45 democrats had planned to use their constitutional powers to veto the government budget, ultimately forcing the resignation of the chief executive and a government shutdown. With Mo, Fan, Tam, and Kwok released, there are still 41 democrats serving time in prison for up to 10 years for the charge that evolved around an unofficial primary election held in July 2020. The polls aimed to help the pro-democracy camp win a controlling majority in the legislature. This, the judges ruled, would have resulted in a 'constitutional crisis.' Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong's mini-constitution in June 2020 following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts – broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers and led to hundreds of arrests amid new legal precedents, while dozens of civil society groups disappeared. The authorities say it restored stability and peace to the city, rejecting criticism from trade partners, the UN and NGOs.
HKFP
29-04-2025
- Politics
- HKFP
4 Hong Kong democrats released from prison after being jailed over unofficial primary election
Four former pro-democracy lawmakers in Hong Kong have been released from prison after serving time for their involvement in an unofficial 2020 primary election. Claudia Mo, Gary Fan, Jeremy Tam, and Kwok Ka-ki were the first group of 45 democrats to be discharged from prison in the early morning of Tuesday after being sentenced in the city's largest national security trial, which concluded in November. Mo was released from the Lo Wu Correctional Institution, while Fan left Lantau's Shek Pik Prison. Tam and Kwok, former leading members of the disbanded Civic Party, were discharged from Stanley Prison. According to an HKFP journalist on the scene, the police barred the media from waiting for Fan at the main entrance of Shek Pik Prison. Members of the press had to wait on a bridge near Shek Pik Reservoir, overlooking the facility. At 5.39am, a seven-seater vehicle left the prison, followed shortly by another private vehicle and a taxi. The private vehicles had curtains, with Fan believed to be in one of them. Police set up a cordon on the bridge to prevent journalists from chasing after the vehicles. The other three democrats left their respective detention facilities in the early hours of Tuesday under similar arrangements, according to local media reports. HKFP has reached out to the Correctional Services Department for confirmation. Local media outlet HK01 captured Fan on video when he arrived at his residence in Tseung Kwan O. The ex-legislator said he was heading home to reunite with his family and thanked Hongkongers and the media for their concern. The four pro-democracy figures were sentenced to four years and two months in jail after pleading guilty to the charge of conspiracy to commit subversion. Their release came after the court deducted from the sentences the time they had spent in detention since late February 2021, when their police bail was revoked. After being formally brought to court in March that year, the court refused to grant them bail pending trial on national security grounds. The four were among the defendants who received the shortest prison terms. The longest jail sentence was given to former law professor Benny Tai, who was described as the 'mastermind' behind the election plan by three handpicked national security judges presiding over the case. The high-profile case centred on an unofficial primary election held in July 2020 that aimed to help the pro-democracy camp win a controlling majority in the legislature. The judges ruled that the democrats had planned to use their constitutional powers to veto the government budget, ultimately forcing the resignation of the chief executive and a government shutdown. This, they ruled, would have resulted in a 'constitutional crisis.' In the judges' reasoning for the sentences, Mo, Fan, Tam, and Kwok were given a one-third reduction in jail time for their guilty plea, along with a further three-month discount for their past public service and 'ignorance of the law.' Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong's mini-constitution in June 2020 following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts – broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers and led to hundreds of arrests amid new legal precedents, while dozens of civil society groups disappeared. The authorities say it restored stability and peace to the city, rejecting criticism from trade partners, the UN and NGOs.
South China Morning Post
14-04-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong activist in legal fight to allow women to wear shorts in prison
A Hong Kong government lawyer has urged a court to dismiss an activist's judicial challenge against a prison rule barring women inmates from wearing shorts in summer, saying individual preferences should not override the need to maintain a 'humane and decent' custodial environment. Advertisement The High Court on Monday heard oral arguments arising from Chow Hang-tung's application for a judicial review of the Correctional Services Department policy, which requires women inmates to wear trousers in the daytime all year round unless they have medical or religious reasons. The 40-year-old barrister turned activist is on remand in the Tai Lam Centre for Women awaiting a national security trial over her role as a former vice-chairwoman of the now-dissolved Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, the group that had organised the city's annual Tiananmen Square vigil. The court heard women inmates had been required to wear dresses throughout the year until 2003, when they were allowed to put on trousers in winter. Trousers became the standard garment in 2011. Women inmates can only wear shorts at night and during physical training sessions. Advertisement Chow's lawyers argued that the 'plainly arbitrary' rule amounted to sexual discrimination and violated the right to equality, as women prisoners were treated less favourably than their male counterparts who could wear shorts in summer.
South China Morning Post
09-04-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Lessons for youngsters in short prison films on jailed Hong Kong protesters
Hong Kong prison authorities have for the first time produced short films based on the stories of current and former inmates convicted of offences related to the city's anti-government protests to educate young people about not running afoul of the law. Advertisement Acting security chief Michael Cheuk Hau-yip told a seminar on Wednesday attended by more than 1,600 secondary school pupils from 29 schools that many young offenders who had broken the national security law had been misinformed, incited or acted under misguided heroism to challenge social order. He pointed to the 30-minute film Momentary Glory, which will be released on the social media platforms of the Correctional Services Department and Education Bureau on National Security Education Day on April 15 along with another one, Unfailing Love. 'This short film was adapted from a real case. The story described a youth who, under peer pressure and negativity in society, was blinded by illusory conceit. He offended against the national security law and ended up in prison,' Cheuk said. Momentary Glory follows the story of Yiu Chi-man, a troubled young man who was forced to abandon his university studies to support his family. Advertisement Yiu is shown riding a motorcycle after answering two friends' calls to 'handle' an unnamed matter. In the film, one friend hands Yiu a folded black flag with part of the word 'liberate' visible. 'I will make all of Hong Kong pay attention, and let them know what it means by 'hard times create strong men',' Yiu said to his friends before riding off.
