HONG KONG: A Hong Kong court on Tuesday found nine leaders of the 2014 pro-democracy “Occupy” movement guilty of public nuisance during the mass protests, in a landmark verdict as freedoms in the city ruled by mainland China come under strain.
Scores of supporters applauded the defendants, who included a law professor, two legislators and former student activists, after a trial that critics said highlighted the decline of political freedoms in the former British colony.
Law professor Benny Tai, 54, retired sociologist Chan Kin-man, 60, and retired pastor Chu Yiu-ming, 75 were found guilty of conspiracy to commit public nuisance over their leading role in planning and mobilizing supporters during the 79-day protest.
The trio had pleaded not guilty to all charges, which carry a maximum jail term of seven years each. The judge did not immediately hand down sentences, and the defendants have not said if they planned to appeal.
“I am determined to fight for Hong Kong with one last effort, and to walk with Hong Kong people one step further,” Chu said in a passionate final speech in court, despite being in poor health.
“We have no regrets ... we have not given up,” he said, moving some witnesses to tears, and spurring sustained applause from supporters.
Outside the court, some punched their fists in the air and shouted, “We want universal suffrage.” Others sobbed as supporters called them “fearless and invincible.”
The concept of civil disobedience is “recognized in Hong Kong,” Justice Johnny Chan said in a summary of his judgment, but it was not a defense against a criminal charge.
“The offense of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance does not have the undesirable effect of curtailing or suppressing civil disobedience at its formation stage or suppressing human rights as the defendants contended,” it read.
Since the city returned to Chinese rule in 1997, critics say Beijing has reneged on its commitment to maintain Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy and freedoms under a co-called “one country, two systems” arrangement.
Chris Patten, Hong Kong’s last colonial governor, called the verdict “appallingly divisive,” and a “vengeful pursuit” of past political events.
In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a regular news briefing that criticizing the verdict as indicative of shrinking freedoms in the city was “illogical and baseless.”
The central government supported the move “to punish, according to law, the main ... plotters of the illegal Occupy (movement),” Lu added.
In the nearly five years since the Occupy protests, democracy activists, diplomats and business leaders have expressed grave concern over what they call Beijing’s tightening grip on the city’s freedoms.
Pro-democracy lawmakers have been kicked out of the legislature, a pro-independence party banned, and democracy advocates jailed and barred from contesting local elections.
The six other defendants were pro-democracy legislators Tanya Chan and Shiu Ka-chun, two former student leaders Eason Chung and Tommy Cheung, activist Raphael Wong, and veteran democrat Lee Wing-tat.
They were each found guilty of at least one public nuisance charge.
All nine were accused of inciting and mobilizing protesters during the demonstrations that sought to pressure Beijing to allow full democracy.
Hundreds of thousands of people blocked major roads in several parts of the global financial hub for 79 straight days in late 2014, in one of the boldest populist challenges against Beijing in decades.
The demonstrators were finally cleared away by police, having won no concessions.
Tai, Chan and Chu were the main conspirators who planned the protests a year in advance, said David Leung, the director of public prosecutions, adding that they caused “unreasonable” public disruptions.
About 87 percent of roughly 1,200 protesters polled during the demonstrations said they had participated to “protect Hong Kong’s liberty,” a public opinion poll by the Chinese University of Hong Kong cited in court showed.
But in his 268-page judgment, Chan said, “It is naive to suggest that a concession to introduce the form of universal suffrage ... could be made by the government overnight with a click of the fingers.”
Hong Kong pro-democracy activists defiant after guilty verdicts
Hong Kong pro-democracy activists defiant after guilty verdicts
- ‘I am determined to fight for Hong Kong with one last effort, and to walk with Hong Kong people one step further’
- ‘We have no regrets ... we have not given up’
Russia ‘guilty’ over downed Azerbaijan plane: Azeri president
- An Azerbaijan Airlines jet crash-landed in Kazakhstan on Dec. 25, killing 38 of the 67 people on board
- Moscow has admitted its air defenses were operational in the area at the time, which it said was under attack from Ukrainian drones
An Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 jet crash-landed in Kazakhstan on December 25, killing 38 of the 67 people on board, after being diverted from a scheduled landing in the southern Russian city of Grozny.
Moscow has admitted its air defenses were operational in the area at the time, which it said was under attack from Ukrainian drones.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has apologized that the “incident” occurred in his country’s air space but has not responded to claims the plane was hit by Russian weapons.
“The guilt for the death of Azerbaijani citizens lies with representatives of the Russian Federation,” Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Monday, according to a statement published by his office.
Aliyev was meeting surviving crew and family members of crew who died in the incident.
The Azerbaijani leader, who is close to Putin, has issued rare fierce criticism of Moscow over the crash, demanding an apology, admission of guilt and the punishment of those found responsible for the “criminal” shooting of the plane.
On Monday he said Russia’s “concealment” of the causes and “delusional versions” being put forward “cause us justifiable anger.”
Initial statements by Russia’s air transport agency that the plane had been forced to divert after a bird strike have triggered fury in Baku.
Aliyev said air defense measures for Grozny – the capital of Russia’s southern Chechnya region, where the plane was set to land – were only announced after the plane had been “shot from the ground.”
“If there was a danger to Russian airspace, then the captain of the plane should have been informed straight away,” Aliyev said.
He also questioned why the plane was sent hundreds of kilometers (miles) across the Caspian Sea to the Kazakh city of Aktau for an emergency landing.
“Why it was directed to Aktau, we have no information,” Aliyev said.
Azerbaijan says preliminary results of its investigation show the plane was hit accidentally by a Russian air defense missile.
Russia has opened its own criminal probe but has not said whether it agrees with Baku’s assessment.
The plane’s black boxes have been sent to Brazil for analysis.
Hundreds of Afghans seeking US resettlement arrive in Philippines for visa processing
- Group of around 300 Afghan nationals, comprising mostly children, arrived from Kabul on Monday
- Under Philippines’ rules, they can stay in the country for no more than 59 days
MANILA: Hundreds of Afghan nationals arrived in the Philippines on Monday to process special immigrant visas for their resettlement in the US, as part of an agreement between Manila and Washington.
The Philippines agreed last July to temporarily host a US visa-processing center for a limited number of Afghan nationals who had worked for American forces in Afghanistan and were left behind during their chaotic withdrawal from the country in 2021.
A group of about 300 Afghan nationals arrived from Kabul on Monday and were issued “the appropriate Philippine entry visa,” said Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Teresita Daza.
“All applicants completed extensive security vetting by Philippine national security agencies,” Daza added
“As part of its agreement with the Philippines, the US government is supporting all necessary services for those SIV applicants temporarily in the Philippines, including food, housing, medical care, security and transportation to complete visa processing.”
The applicants were also vetted by US security agencies and had undergone medical screening prior to their arrival.
The group of Afghans will stay at a billet facility operated by the US State Department’s Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts and are only permitted to leave for their embassy consular interviews
Under the Philippines’ rules, they can stay in the country for no longer than 59 days.
The Philippines was chosen as a location for the visa processing as the US Embassy in Manila is “one of the largest” and “has the capacity to process them efficiently and smoothly without having to sacrifice the normal operations,” a Philippine official said.
The Afghan nationals who are processing their visas in the Philippines comprised mostly children and “will be the only group” under the agreement between Manila and Washington, a US State Department official told Arab News, speaking on condition of anonymity.
More than 160,000 Afghans sought resettlement when the Taliban took over Afghanistan as international forces withdrew from the country in 2021 — two decades after the US invaded it.
Thousands of others are in third countries awaiting visa processing. Many of them had worked for the US government.
South Korea’s Yoon set to avoid arrest by warrant deadline
- Anti-graft investigators sought an extension to the warrant that expires at the end of Monday
- The anti-graft officials have sought more time and help because of the difficulties they have faced
SEOUL: Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol appeared set to evade arrest ahead of a Monday night deadline after anti-graft investigators asked for more time to enforce a warrant.
The former star prosecutor has defiantly refused questioning three times over a bungled martial law decree last month and remained holed up in his residence surrounded by hundreds of guards preventing his arrest.
Anti-graft investigators sought an extension to the warrant that expires at the end of Monday (1500 GMT) and asked for support from the police, which said the force would help and may arrest anyone shielding Yoon.
“The validity of the warrant expires today. We plan to request an extension from the court today,” said CIO deputy director Lee Jae-seung, whose authority has been refuted by Yoon’s lawyers.
The request was officially filed on Monday evening and an extension can be granted all the way up to the midnight deadline. If the warrant expires, investigators can apply for another one.
The anti-graft officials have sought more time and help because of the difficulties they have faced, including being met by hundreds of security forces when they entered Yoon’s presidential compound on Friday.
“We will consider the option of arresting any personnel from the Presidential Security Service during the execution of the second warrant,” a police official said Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The country’s opposition Democratic Party has also called for the dissolution of the security service protecting the impeached president.
If authorities detain Yoon, who has already been suspended from duty by lawmakers, he will become the first sitting president in South Korean history to be arrested.
But they would only have 48 hours to either request another arrest warrant, in order to keep him in detention, or be forced to release him.
While officials have been unable to get to Yoon, the joint investigation team has gone after top military officials behind the martial law plan.
The prosecution’s martial law special investigation unit on Monday indicted Defense Intelligence Commander Moon Sang-ho on charges of playing an integral role in an insurrection and abuse of power.
Yoon would face prison or, at worst, the death penalty if convicted for insurrection over briefly suspending civilian rule and plunging South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades.
But both he and his supporters have remained defiant.
“We will protect the Presidential Security Service till midnight,” said Kim Soo-yong, 62, one of the protest organizers.
“If they get another warrant, we will come again.”
Early Monday dozens of Yoon’s lawmakers from the People Power Party turned up in front of his presidential residence and police blocked roads.
“I’ve been here longer than the CIO now. It doesn’t make sense why they can’t do it. They need to arrest him immediately,” said anti-Yoon protest organizer Kim Ah-young, in her 30s.
The initial warrant was issued on the grounds that Yoon has refused to emerge for questioning over his martial law decree.
His lawyers have repeatedly said the warrant is “unlawful” and “illegal,” pledging to take further legal action against it.
The vibrant East Asian democracy will find itself in uncharted territory either way — its sitting president will have been arrested, or he would have evaded court-ordered detention.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Seoul early Monday, and did not meet Yoon but held a joint news conference with Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul.
He praised Seoul’s democratic resilience but his focus was shifted away from domestic politics when North Korea fired what appeared to be an intercontinental ballistic missile into the sea as he met Cho.
South Korea’s Constitutional Court has slated January 14 for the start of Yoon’s impeachment trial, which if he does not attend would continue in his absence.
A prosecutors’ report for his former defense minister seen by AFP Sunday showed Yoon ignored the objections of key cabinet ministers before his failed martial law bid, evidence the court may take into account.
South Korea’s Constitutional Court has up to 180 days to determine whether to dismiss Yoon as president or restore his powers.
Former presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye never appeared for their impeachment trials.
Malaysia’s jailed ex-PM Najib wins appeal to seek home detention for corruption sentence
- Najib set up the 1MDB development fund shortly after he took office in 2009.
- Investigators allege at least $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund and laundered by Najib’s associates through layers of bank accounts in the United States and other countries
PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia’s imprisoned former Prime Minister Najib Razak on Monday won an appeal to pursue his bid to serve his remaining corruption sentence under house arrest.
In an application in April last year, Najib said he had clear information that then-King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah issued an addendum order allowing him to finish his sentence under house arrest. Najib claimed the addendum was issued during a pardons board meeting on Jan. 29 last year chaired by Sultan Abdullah that also cut his 12-year jail sentence by half and sharply reduced a fine. But the High Court tossed out his bid three months later.
The Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 ruling on Monday, ordered the High Court to hear the merits of the case. The decision came after Najib’s lawyer produced a letter from a Pahang state palace official confirming that then-Sultan Abdullah had issued the addendum order.
“We are happy that finally Najib has got a win,” his lawyer Mohamad Shafee Abdullah said. “He is very happy and very relieved that finally they recognized some element of injustice that has been placed against him.”
The lawyer said Najib gave a thumbs-up in court when the ruling was read.
He said it was “criminal” for the government to conceal the addendum order. Shafee noted that a new High Court judge will now hear the case.
In his application, Najib accused the pardons board, home minister, attorney-general and four others of concealing the sultan’s order “in bad faith.” Sultan Abdullah hails from Najib’s hometown in Pahang. He ended his five-year reign on Jan. 30 last year under Malaysia’s unique rotating monarchy system. A new king took office a day later.
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has said he had no knowledge of such an order since he wasn’t a member of the pardons board. The others named in Najib’s application have not made any public comments.
Najib, 71, served less than two years of his sentence before it was commuted by the pardons board. His sentence is now due to end on Aug. 23, 2028. He was charged and found guilty in a corruption case linked to the multibillion-dollar looting of state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad.
The pardons board didn’t give any reason for its decision and wasn’t required to explain. But the move has prompted a public outcry over the appearance that Najib was being given special privileges compared to other prisoners.
Najib set up the 1MDB development fund shortly after he took office in 2009. Investigators allege at least $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund and laundered by Najib’s associates through layers of bank accounts in the United States and other countries, financed Hollywood films and extravagant purchases that included hotels, a luxury yacht, art and jewelry. More than $700 million landed in Najib’s bank accounts.
Najib is still fighting graft charges in the main trial linking him directly to the scandal.
Death toll from the German Christmas market attack rises to 6
- A woman succumbed to her injuries, prosecutors said Monday
- More than 200 people were injured in the Dec. 20 attack
BERLIN: The death toll in the attack on a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg last month has risen to six as a woman succumbed to her injuries, prosecutors said Monday.
Prosecutors in Naumburg said the 52-year-old woman died in a hospital, German news agency dpa reported. Authorities have said that the others who died were four women aged 45, 52, 67 and 75, and a 9-year-old boy.
More than 200 people were injured in the Dec. 20 attack.
Authorities have identified the suspect, who was arrested immediately after he drove a rented car through the crowded market early on a Friday evening, as a Saudi doctor who arrived in Germany in 2006 and had received permanent residency.
They have said he does not fit the usual profile of perpetrators of extremist attacks. The man described himself as an ex-Muslim who was highly critical of Islam, and on social media expressed support for the far-right.
