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Opinion | Why those who threaten Hong Kong’s judges deserve no mercy

  • Since the anti-government protests, courts have been firebombed and judges threatened
  • The rule of law is Hong Kong’s foundation stone, and anybody who endangers it must face the full force of the law

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Police officers stand guard outside West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on March 7 before the arrival of an activist charged under the national security law. Photo: Dickson Lee
On May 28, District Court Judge Amanda Woodcock sentenced 10 defendants to terms of imprisonment ranging from 14 to 18 months. The defendants, who included Next Media founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, activist Figo Chan Ho-wun and former lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung, had earlier pleaded guilty to organising an unauthorised assembly on National Day in 2019, the maximum penalty for which is five years’ imprisonment.
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The judge noted that the rally they organised saw petrol bombs being thrown along or near the procession route, and other acts of criminal damage, arson and violence. She told the defendants that “actions have consequences for everyone, irrespective of who they are”.

Soon after the sentences were imposed, Woodcock received three telephone calls, conveying intimidatory and insulting messages, directed at her and her family.

Of particular concern is the fact this incident is not a one-off. During the 2019-20 protests, the entrances to the Court of Final Appeal, the High Court and the Sha Tin Magistrates’ Court were firebombed.

In January 2020, moreover, insulting graffiti about Justice Anthea Pang Po-kam was daubed on the High Court’s walls, after she was maligned online. Unhappy with the sentences she had imposed on particular rioters, she was called “a judge with a red background”.

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An image captured from Facebook shows a fire burning outside Sha Tin Magistrates’ Court on November 14, 2019. Photo: Facebook
An image captured from Facebook shows a fire burning outside Sha Tin Magistrates’ Court on November 14, 2019. Photo: Facebook
On December 3, 2020, Chief Magistrate Victor So Wai-tak was threatened after he refused to grant bail to Jimmy Lai, because he was a flight risk and might reoffend. After the hearing, So’s secretary received a call from a man who shouted, “I will bomb you, your wife, and your son to death”. Clearly, the caller hoped to terrify So for his decision, and also to influence his judgment of future cases.
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