No political consideration is involved in the Department of Justice’s handling of criminal cases.
The Government made the statement after a public procession was staged today regarding recent sentencing reviews of activists.
“The Department of Justice has all along been handling all criminal cases in accordance with the applicable law, relevant evidence and the Prosecution Code. No political consideration is being taken into account at all. The allegations of political prosecution or persecution are entirely unfounded. Not only do these allegations ignore the evidence accepted by the court or undisputed evidence in these cases, they also disregard the decisions of the court," the Government said.
Referring to the cases involving people charging the ground floor lobby of the Legislative Council complex in 2014, and Joshua Wong, Nathan Law and Alex Chow storming what is known as “Civic Square” the same year, the Government said the Court of Appeal clearly pointed out the defendants were not convicted or sentenced for exercising the freedom of assembly, demonstration or expression, but for overstepping the law, including conduct involving violence.
“Judicial decisions are made independently after fair and open hearings on the basis of the evidence adduced in court and the applicable law. Political consideration does not come into play at all.”
The Government added it fully respects freedom of speech and the right to petition and hold public processions.
However, it said those rights are not absolute and people must respect the law when exercising such rights.
