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A group of legal professionals on Thursday said it was alarmed that only a small number of participants of the illegal “Occupy Central” protests have been prosecuted by police.
The group is also concerned that the majority of them were given lenient sentences - despite the serious nature of their offenses.
Lawyer Phyllis Kwong Ka-yin, chairwoman of Hong Kong-based Asia Pacific Law Association (APLA), made the comments based on the association’s study of rulings on arrests in relation to the unlawful protests which lasted 79 days in 2014.
The association advised police to strengthen its investigations and also efforts to collect evidence. It said the Department of Justice should seek reviews at higher courts if it believed sentences were too light.
Kwong, who spoke at the association’s seminar, said the spate of mob activities in the illegal occupation protests of 2014, weekend rallies against mainland day-trippers and the Mong Kok riot in February were serious compared with similar protests overseas.
But she noted the police had only pressed charges against 17 percent of 900 people arrested for “Occupy”-related offenses. Of 157 trials now finished, less than half of those accused have been convicted. There were only 30 cases of imprisonment; most of the convicted people were either fined or ordered to perform community service.
Kwong noted that conviction rates in other places for similar offenses had been higher than Hong Kong. The association’s research showed those convicted of unlawful assembly and assault of police officers may face up to four years in jail in other jurisdictions, but the heaviest sentence for “Occupy”-related convictions was only four weeks in prison with an one-year suspension.
Kwong’s association recommended creation of a sentencing guideline council similar to those in the United Kingdom and Australia, which formulate sentencing guidelines for the courts to follow.
Grenville Cross, former director of public prosecutions of the Department of Justice, attributed the light punishments to a lack of sentencing guidelines, the different backgrounds of those on trial, the circumstances of the cases, as well as mitigating factors.
The Department of Justice plays a pivotal role to dispute sentences if they are found to be too lenient, Cross added. He also said decisions to press ahead with prosecutions had sometimes come too late. Cross advised prosecutors to boost manpower levels so cases could be dealt with more quickly.
Participants in street violence in February have been charged with rioting. Cross expected prosecutors to take their trials to the High Court, where defendants could face longer jail terms. This will also send a clear message that serious offenses should not to be tolerated in Hong Kong, he said.
(CHINADAILY)
