Hong Kong activist to pay HK$100,000 for needless court bid to challenge protest song ban
- Court of Appeal denies request from jailed activist Chow Hang-tung to challenge decision barring her from contesting song injunction order
Chief Judge of the High Court Jeremy Poon Shiu-chor and Madam Justice Carlye Chu Fun-ling ordered Chow to bear the legal expenses incurred by the justice minister in her failed appeal bid, including for hiring two senior counsel, assessed to be HK$100,000 on a “broad-brush approach”.
The justices said in a written ruling that Chow was in no position to challenge the ban, as she was neither a defendant nor party to the civil injunction proceedings.
While the lower Court of First Instance had previously allowed anyone opposing the justice secretary’s application to obtain the relevant court documents and substantiate their objections in writing, they still needed to apply separately for permission to intervene, the judges added.
“There is no reasonable prospect in the applicant’s appeal and no other reason why it should be heard in the interests of justice,” the judgment said.
The court also declared that the matter should not be reconsidered at an oral hearing because Chow’s application was “totally without merit”.
The court accepted the government’s contention that the song, which became an unofficial anthem of the 2019 social unrest, had been weaponised to arouse anti-government and separatist sentiments.
The song also made a comeback on several music streaming platforms after it was removed globally by its former distributor.
The court order, issued in the form of an interim injunction, is expected to last indefinitely unless a legal challenge contests the ban.
People who fit the description of a defendant, namely those using or intending to use the song for an illegal purpose, can raise a challenge.
