HK blasts threats against judge

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government and legal professionals over the weekend strongly condemned acts of intimidation against the city's judicial officers, saying there is zero-tolerance for such illegal acts.

Chief Magistrate Victor So Waitak of West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts reportedly received a bomb threat against him and his family on Thursday, the same day he denied bail to media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying in a fraud trial on the grounds that Lai is a flight risk. The Hong Kong government later confirmed the incident in a statement released on Saturday.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor appointed six judges, including So, to adjudicate national security cases.

Any attempt to interfere with a judicial officer is an assault on the rule of law and is therefore extremely serious, Hong Kong's former director of public prosecutions Grenville Cross told China Daily.

"Quite clearly, the threats to So will have to be thoroughly investigated by the police," Cross said. He added the police will need to try to identify the caller to see if they can assemble enough evidence to either charge the person with criminal intimidation, a crime punishable by a maximum of five years' imprisonment under the Crimes Ordinance, and subversion under the National Security Law, which is punishable by not less than 10 years' imprisonment.

Melissa Pang Kaye, president of the Law Society of Hong Kong, urged the government to follow up on these illegal acts against the judiciary. She stressed that the courts and judges should adjudicate fairly on the legal and factual issues involved in each case, regardless of its nature or the person involved.

Lawmaker Priscilla Leung Meifun said that the Hong Kong community should stand together in support of the judges' safety and work and uphold the dignity of the judiciary.

The statement on Saturday said neither the SAR nor any law-abiding jurisdiction will tolerate such violent and illegal acts against the judiciary.

In the same statement, the Department of Justice warned that any such attacks may violate the National Security Law for Hong Kong.

According to the law, which was enacted on June 30, anyone who organizes or participates in an act by force or threat of force that seriously disrupts or undermines the law-abiding performance of duties by organs of the SAR, including the judiciary, is guilty of an offense.

The DOJ also refuted "groundless accusations" made by local and external critics against court decisions in recent months. These critics have sought to discredit the SAR's efforts as a "crackdown on dissent" as it prosecutes illegal activities during last year's violent protests, the department said.

In July, So ruled on the city's first case brought under the National Security Law. A 23-year-old local man was charged with terrorism and inciting secession as he rode a motorcycle into a group of police officers during an unauthorized protest on July 1 while carrying a flag saying "liberate Hong Kong".