A British judge has declared the reason why he made a decision to give the resignation from the territory’s highest court, Hong Kong’s court of final appeal (CFA).
This comes after Jonathan Sumption and British judge Lawrence Collins stepped down from their positions, giving the reason of increasing paranoid atmosphere in Hong Kong.
The resignation comes close on the heels of the recent conviction of 14 pro-democracy activists for conspiracy to commit subversion.
Hong Kong’s national security law, which was enacted on June 30, 2020, was introduced in response to the protests in Hong Kong during 2019.
It was enacted to address activities deemed as threats to national security. Reportedly, Sumption pointed out that the ‘real problem, I think, in Hong Kong is the paranoid atmosphere there’.
This is said to be a response to the 2019 riots, but there were laws perfectly capable of dealing with those. The object has become increasingly clear of the national security law was to crush political dissent, not just riots.
Lord Sumption expressed his alarm at the direction in which Hong Kong is heading. Hong Kong is slowly becoming a totalitarian state.
Notably, the law has drawn widespread condemnation from many governments and human rights organisations.
Sumption described the law as extremely illiberal in an interview and argued that it serves to suppress political dissent rather than address public order.
Comments