Hong Kong activist gets three days in jail in prison complaint form case
Corrects 13th paragraph on reason for punishment to delete reference to "interrupted by a raid"
By Jessie Pang and Marcus Lum
HONG KONG, Aug 14(Reuters) -A Hong Kong court jailed pro-democracy activist Owen Chow for three days on Wednesday and fined his solicitor, Phyllis Woo, for taking a document out of prison without authorisation.
Chow is one of 14 people convicted of conspiracy to commit subversion in a landmark national security case in May that drew international criticism and could see him jailed for life, but he awaits sentencing, with that case in the mitigation stage.
He and Woo, 31, were convicted on the unauthorised document charge in July, after having pleaded not guilty. Chow's sentence is to be added to the other jail time he faces, while Woo was ordered to pay a fine of HK$1,800 ($231).
Chow's defence lawyer, Jeffrey Tam, said he would appeal against the conviction and sentence.
Chow is currently serving a jail term of more than five years after having being found guilty of occupying the city's legislature during mass pro-democracy protests in 2019.
During a legal visit at the Lai Chi Kok Reception Center on May 2 last year, he gave Woo the "unauthorised" complaint form at the centre of the case.
Chow's complaint to Hong Kong's ombudsman related to two books on Chinese Buddhism that family members tried to give him in prison but which were banned by the Correctional Services Department (CSD).
Had the complaint form been sent by the proper route following a security check, Principal Magistrate Ivy Chui said, she believed it would have gone smoothly from the prison to the ombudsman, an administration watchdog.
Chui described Chow's attempt to bypass the security check as "reckless and foolish". She took into consideration Woo's relatively short experience as a solicitor and her clean criminal record in handing down the fine.
During the trial, the prosecution played closed-circuit television images of the visit, saying Chow "secretly" gave the complaint form to Woo after a prison officer left the room.
"This case is just the tip of the iceberg where correctional staff obstruct the exercise of the rights of prisoners," Chow wrote in a letter of mitigation.
Several books he sought had been banned by the CSD for "ridiculous" reasons over the past three years, he added.
His cell was raided seven times after he insisted on filing a complaint, Chow said, and he was punished in the last raid forhaving in his possession a Portuguese egg tart "without permission", although the dessert had been part of a breakfast he hadn't finished.
Chow was placed in solitary confinement, told to engage in sports and take showers alone, while nearby inmates were all moved away, he added.
"If the people in power want the society to be called ... progressive, they must take responsibility, starting with facing the voices of vulnerable communities."
Reporting by Jessie Pang and Marcus Lum; Editing by James Pomfret, Clarence Fernandez and Kim Coghill
면책조항: XM Group 회사는 체결 전용 서비스와 온라인 거래 플랫폼에 대한 접근을 제공하여, 개인이 웹사이트에서 또는 웹사이트를 통해 이용 가능한 콘텐츠를 보거나 사용할 수 있도록 허용합니다. 이에 대해 변경하거나 확장할 의도는 없습니다. 이러한 접근 및 사용에는 다음 사항이 항상 적용됩니다: (i) 이용 약관, (ii) 위험 경고, (iii) 완전 면책조항. 따라서, 이러한 콘텐츠는 일반적인 정보에 불과합니다. 특히, 온라인 거래 플랫폼의 콘텐츠는 금융 시장에서의 거래에 대한 권유나 제안이 아닙니다. 금융 시장에서의 거래는 자본에 상당한 위험을 수반합니다.
온라인 거래 플랫폼에 공개된 모든 자료는 교육/정보 목적으로만 제공되며, 금융, 투자세 또는 거래 조언 및 권고, 거래 가격 기록, 금융 상품 또는 원치 않는 금융 프로모션의 거래 제안 또는 권유를 포함하지 않으며, 포함해서도 안됩니다.
이 웹사이트에 포함된 모든 의견, 뉴스, 리서치, 분석, 가격, 기타 정보 또는 제3자 사이트에 대한 링크와 같이 XM이 준비하는 콘텐츠 뿐만 아니라, 제3자 콘텐츠는 일반 시장 논평으로서 "현재" 기준으로 제공되며, 투자 조언으로 여겨지지 않습니다. 모든 콘텐츠가 투자 리서치로 해석되는 경우, 투자 리서치의 독립성을 촉진하기 위해 고안된 법적 요건에 따라 콘텐츠가 의도되지 않았으며, 준비되지 않았다는 점을 인지하고 동의해야 합니다. 따라서, 관련 법률 및 규정에 따른 마케팅 커뮤니케이션이라고 간주됩니다. 여기에서 접근할 수 있는 앞서 언급한 정보에 대한 비독립 투자 리서치 및 위험 경고 알림을 읽고, 이해하시기 바랍니다.
