Joshua Wong and Hong Kong activists may have faced ‘undue delay’ in waiting one year for case, court hears
A magistrate yesterday questioned why prosecutors had taken a full year to bring four activists - including Scholarism convenor Joshua Wong Chi-fung - to court for allegedly obstructing police officers in the execution of their duties.
A magistrate yesterday questioned why prosecutors had taken a full year to bring four activists - including Scholarism convenor Joshua Wong Chi-fung - to court for allegedly obstructing police officers in the execution of their duties.
The four were accused of obstructing officers in carrying out their duty at a protest outside the central government's liaison office in Western district on June 11 last year. Some protesters burned a copy of Beijing's white paper on Hong Kong.
All of them denied their respective charges.
Drama unfolded in the courtroom when the defendants were asked by a court interpreter whether or not they pleaded guilty to the charges against them after he read them out.
Raphael Wong shouted: "Not guilty for burning the white paper. Political prosecution is shameful. Wong Ho-ming is innocent."
Chainrai responded: "Here is not a platform for you to express your views on politics."
When the magistrate asked prosecutor Vincent Siu why it took so long to bring the case to court, Raphael Wong chanted once more, "political prosecution is shameful", eliciting a second warning from Chainrai.
This "is a court of law. You have to respect that," she said.
As to the possible delay, Siu said it took time for police to gather evidence. The court heard that the offences lasted for about two minutes.
Siu said eight witnesses would be called, and video footage would be played.
The case has been adjourned to August 28 for a pre-trial review. The four defendants were released on HK$500 bail.
Before the court hearing, Raphael Wong and league lawmaker "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung burnt a copy of the white paper outside the court building.
The white paper on Hong Kong's administration stressed the central government's "comprehensive jurisdiction" over the city and referred to judges as "administrators" who had to be "patriotic" in doing their job.
