A prominent human rights group on Friday said the Hong Kong authorities should quash the convictions of three pro-democracy activists and drop all further cases involving peaceful political activities
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th December, 2020) A prominent human rights group on Friday said the Hong Kong authorities should quash the convictions of three pro-democracy activists and drop all further cases involving peaceful political activities.
On Thursday, a local court in Hong Kong sentenced to jail three former members of the disbanded political party, Demosisto � Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow and Ivan Lam � for taking part in a protest that local authorities defined as a "riot" outside a police station in Wan Chai on June 21 of last year. Wong received 13.5 months behind bars, Chow 10 months and Lam 7 months.
"The Hong Kong authorities should quash the convictions of these activists immediately and drop all further cases involving peaceful political activity," Maya Wang, senior China researcher for Human Rights Watch, said.
Wang said that the pace with which Beijing was moving to reshape and control Hong Kong is frightening, adding that governments should create an international human rights monitoring mechanism specifically on China at the United Nations.
The United Nations Human Rights Committee has criticized Hong Kong's Public Order Ordinance, which obligates organizers of protests involving more than 30 people to notify police at least a week before the activities.
Human Rights Watch called on the Hong Kong government to amend the law and to meet international standards on freedom of assembly.
Since Chinese authorities passed the controversial national security law in July, both local authorities in Hong Kong and China accelerated the use of the law against critics. The authorities argued that the law was necessary for safeguarding China's sovereignty and would not infringe upon the civil liberties of local residents.
