Verdicts Show Freedom Of Speech 'not Absolute'

Pro-government figures on Tuesday cheered the guilty verdicts for nine prominent leaders of the 2014 Occupy movement.

Seven defendants were convicted on two public nuisance-related charges, while two were found guilty of a single charge.

New People’s Party lawmaker Regina Ip described the verdicts as “fair”, and echoed the trial judge’s ruling that “civil disobedience is not a defence for breaking the law.”

Ip, a former secretary for security, added that freedom of expression is no excuse for law-breaking.

“The judgement fully demonstrates that the freedom of expression, etcetera, is not absolute and is rightly regulated by our laws”, she said.

The vice-president of Beijing's top think tank on Hong Kong, Lau Siu-kai, said while the courts have always adopted a lenient approach to cases involving civil disobedience, there is a bottom line.

Lau also said the ruling shows that people don’t generally support civil disobedience movements, saying the Occupy protests may have backfired in pushing more people to adopt a conservative attitude in prioritising order and stability over politics.

Meanwhile, a local deputy to the National People's Congress, Stanley Ng, said the ruling sends an important message to young people that they have to abide by the law, adding that they should no longer be “misled” by those who advocated the Occupy movement.

He said only when society is united can Hong Kong remain peaceful.