- Unconditional amnesty impossible, but some cases deserve ‘special treatment’
- Let protest review panel recommend if some of those arrested can be let off, lawmaker says
Beijing loyalist Priscilla Leung Mei-fun has urged the Hong Kong government to consider pardoning some of those arrested for taking part in protests which have been going on since last June.
With more than 7,000 people arrested so far, the youngest just 11 years old, the lawmaker said those accused of relatively minor offences could be dealt with more leniently.
"An unconditional amnesty is impossible, but special treatment or a lenient sentence " subject to conditions appropriate for those charged for minor offences " is possible," said Leung, a member of the Basic Law Committee, which advises China's top legislative body on issues relating to Hong Kong's mini-constitution.
She joined other pro-establishment heavyweights in asking Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to expand the remit of a proposed independent review committee to include recommending how to deal with those arrested.
Lam has rejected protesters' demand for an independent commission of inquiry, preferring to have an independent review committee look into the political and socio-economic causes of the city's deep-seated problems.
Protesters have also demanded amnesty for those arrested, but the city leader rejected that too, saying pardoning those accused of assault, arson and unlawful assembly would undermine the rule of law.
More details about the committee, which Lam said would be similar to the one set up by the British government after the 2011 London riots, are expected in February.
Leung, a law professor at City University in Hong Kong, said the government ought to "make better use of the review committee".
"Studying only the distant causes of the crisis is not really helpful," she told the Post. "What we need are some practical and forward-looking solutions.
"The committee can serve as a platform for reconciliation and rehabilitation. Special pardoning can be done following the principle of the rule of law " and that will be good for Hong Kong's recovery."
Panel probing Hong Kong protests will not have subpoena powers: city official
Noting that the government is drawing up the terms of reference for the committee, she proposed tasking it with studying some of the arrests made since last June and recommending those which deserve leniency.
She said the Riots, Communities and Victims Panel set up after the London riots of 2011 recommended lenient treatment for minor cases.
Leung is not the first from the pro-Beijing camp to propose special treatment for protesters arrested for relatively minor offences.
Last November, former Legislative Council president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing suggested pardoning some of those who committed less serious crimes.
Lawyer Anna Wu Hung-yuk, chairwoman of the Competition Commission and a former executive councillor, has also come out in support of amnesty for some of those arrested and police officers who may have breached the law, as well as an independent inquiry.
She said offering amnesty and applying discretion in the prosecution of cases have always been part of Hong Kong's legal system.
"The question is, when do we exercise it. That step has to be thought through, because I don't believe in a peace-building process that does not include a component to deal with rifts, and these rifts are very deep," Wu said at a University of Hong Kong forum last Tuesday.
The question is, when do we exercise it. That step has to be thought through, because I don't believe in a peace-building process that does not include a component to deal with riftsAnna Wu, Competition Commission chairwoman
She took issue with the Hong Kong government appearing to tell Hongkongers that there is rule of law only if they obey the law. "I think that's a very narrow sense of the law," she said.
"Compliance with the law and enforcement of the law then become excuses for the government (not to act)."
Anna Dziedzic, associate director of HKU's Centre for Comparative and Public Law, said amnesty can take several forms, including allowing the secretary for justice to use discretion.
"This is a reset button in trying to de-escalate some of the civil unrest. (It means saying,) 'Okay, we've heard you, and let's draw a line under that and start talking properly and peacefully'," she said.
Dziedzic said the review committee could suggest the scope of the amnesty process, and specific legislation to allow for pardons could also be made part of the legal system.
Although amnesty in some jurisdictions covers those who commit violent acts, she said Hong Kong could "compromise" and draw a line that would satisfy both protesters and police.
"Individual harm to a person could acceptably be excluded from an amnesty, because it's a very serious offence and you can't really justify that to promote the cause," she said.
Individual harm to a person could acceptably be excluded from an amnesty, because it's a very serious offenceAnna Dziedzic, Centre for Comparative and Public Law
HKU criminal law professor Simon Young suggested that police exercise greater discretion before charging underaged persons accused of relatively minor offences.
Although police already had discretion, he said, offenders currently must admit their wrongdoing and be placed under police supervision for two years, and their parents must also consent to the arrangement.
He thought it would help to not charge such young offenders, though they could still be supervised for a period.
Pro-establishment lawmaker Ann Chiang Lai-wan said she believed the government had already taken a lenient approach towards protesters, pointing out that a large proportion of those arrested so far had not been charged.
"There are cases of inadequate evidence, but I think police and the Department of Justice are trying to let go of those committing only minor offences," she said.
I think police and the Department of Justice are trying to let go of those committing only minor offencesAnn Chiang, lawmaker
A source close to the city's top officials said that with anti-government protests still going on, pardons for those arrested could only happen "without publicly mentioning it".
Otherwise, he added, people might wrongly believe that violence was condoned by the government and worked as a method of protesting.
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