CHRIS LAU
CHRIS.LAU@SCMP.COM
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 07 October, 2015, 3:59pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 07 October, 2015, 4:37pm
Christine Fong (second right) at a protest against extending the landfill in Tseung Kwan O. Photo: Dickson Lee
A district councillor was today fined HK$2,000 for yelling and displaying a Nazi banner at Legislative Council meetings during protests against a proposed landfill expansion last year.
Sai Kung district councillor Christine Fong Kwok-shan, 48, wore a T-shirt which read “Protect Tseung Kwan O” and held a banner bearing the symbol of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party when she protested against the landfill extension in Tseung Kwan O in the Legco public gallery on May 7 last year, Eastern Court heard.
A week later, she was caught yelling from the public gallery.
READ MORE: Landfill expansion approved after filibuster battle
She was convicted of two counts of contravening an administrative order under the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance, to which she had previously pleaded not guilty.
Her assistants Cheung Mei-hung, 26, who was found guilty of the same two counts, and Fong Yu-ching, 30, who was convicted of one count of obstructing a Legco officer, were also each fined HK$2,000.
The three earlier argued that their right to express their opinion had been violated by Legco’s administrative orders, part of which forbade them to display any slogans.
Handing down his verdict, Magistrate Chu Chung-keung said: “The Legislative Council is Hong Kong’s highest body, one that is dignified.”
He said that the human rights law on which the three relied included limitations, such as not to infringe others’ rights and not to endanger a country’s safety when they expressed their views.
He also noted that Legco imposed these bans only in certain areas of its premises.
The court heard that on May 7, Christine Fong, who was wearing the T-shirt in question, handed Cheung the banner for him to display.
When a Legco officer answered his superior’s order to remove the banner, Fong Yu-ching pulled the officer’s hand, while Cheung attempted to stop the officer.
Both the district councillor and Cheung were caught yelling in Legco the following week.
Speaking outside court, Christine Fong – who has yet to announce whether she will run in the coming district council polls – accused “some political parties” in the Legislative Council of selectively causing her to be prosecuted, in a bid to defend the government’s landfill plan.
She said she would consider an appeal and continue to protest in a peaceful and rational manner, as she had always done.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1864890/nazi-banner-and-shouts-prompt-court-fine-hong-kong
