Responding to the Hong Kong government gazetting legislation that makes clear the city’s Chief Executive can designate certain criminal cases as national security cases, Joey Siu, the spokesperson of Amnesty International Hong Kong Overseas, said:
“It is deeply alarming that the Hong Kong authorities continue to reinforce the powers of the city’s national security laws, which have contributed to grave human rights violations and should have long since been repealed.
“This legislation, which allows the Chief Executive to designate any criminal act as ‘involving national security’, shows the Hong Kong government’s intent to deploy its sweeping powers in a way that severely undermines defendant rights at every stage of legal proceedings — from investigation and bail applications to trial proceedings and release.
“Amnesty’s research has previously highlighted concerns about defendants’ rights to a fair trial in national security cases, including through the replacement of jury trials with judges appointed by the Chief Executive, the systematic denial of the presumption of bail, and the punitive denial of early release.
“This legislation provides a further pretext for the government to exploit ‘national security’ to systematically repress dissent and create a widespread chilling effect on anyone who dares to be critical of the authorities.”
Background
On 8 June, the Hong Kong government proposed subsidiary legislation under Section 110 of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (SNSO) – also known as Article 23 – that crystalizes the Chief Executive’s power to designate certain acts in a criminal case as “involving national security”.
This could in theory turn any criminal case into a national security case, meaning it would be bound by the specific legal procedures under the national security regime, including the presumption against bail and being tried only by judges selected by the Chief Executive.
Just one day after proposing it, the Hong Kong g
… [more]
