Volume of protest cases puts strain on HK courts

HONG KONG • The thousands of anti-government protesters who have been arrested over the almost-eight-month-long civil unrest in Hong Kong are putting a tremendous strain on the courts, lawyers in the city say.

Of the more than 7,000 protesters held, only 1,092 have been charged and just 12 people have been sentenced. For instance, Derek Tai, who was arrested outside Hong Kong's Legislative Council building last June, was charged with unlawful assembly only five months later.

Tai, 21, a philosophy major, had planned to study in Germany this year, but like many of his peers, he now faces up to three years in jail. He has not told his mother he was charged. She lives in mainland China and would not understand why her son would be in trouble.

"She thinks I'm capable of doing more things than getting arrested, and our relatives in the mainland think I'm a rioter," he said. Whenever he feels depressed, Tai tries to remember his favourite Chinese philosophers. "It really gives me strength. Especially when they emphasise that I have the ability to see what's right and wrong," he said.

He said it was important to publicly discuss his case and use his full name so that the arrested protesters were not reduced to a statistic.

The Hong Kong police have maintained that they are politically neutral and that officers only make arrests if someone is suspected of breaking the law. The politics of the arrested person is never a consideration for arrest or prosecution, police said in a statement.

Ms Vannie Lau, a solicitor defending 10 arrested protesters, including Tai, said many lawyers are already volunteering for 25 cases each, the maximum number for which the government will subsidise fees for defendants who cannot afford representation.

She said it was not uncommon for court hearings to stretch long past normal hours, recounting a hearing for 96 people in a rioting case that lasted from 4.30pm to 10.30pm. "It just shows that even the judiciary can't handle such a large number of defendants," Ms Lau added.

The city's most senior judge, Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma, has acknowledged the huge volume of pending cases, noting that most were not ready for trial. He added that a task force had been set up to study how the courts can expedite matters.

In December, police arrested members of Spark Alliance, an organisation that raised money to cover protesters' legal fees, on charges of money laundering, and froze HK$70 million (S$12 million) in donations. Tai's legal fees are covered by the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund.

Ann, Tai's girlfriend, recalled the anxiety when she heard of his arrest. The 20-year-old university student said. "When I saw him again, I felt relieved. But I also knew it was just the beginning."

REUTERS