Charges against Occupy activists is bad timing, not persecution
Move against nine leaders and participants of the 2014 civil disobedience movement came a day after Carrie Lam was elected Hong Kong’s new leader
Six others, including lawmaker Shiu Ka-chun, face one or both of the incitement charges.
Bearing in mind that the three occupy leaders had already turned themselves in to the police more than a year ago, their being charged should not be a surprise, even if the timing was unpredictable.
Tai even said yesterday that he would plead guilty if the facts of the case were in line with what had happened. Shiu has also said he takes responsibility for his actions during the Occupy protests.
It’s hard to claim political conspiracy or persecution when some of the key players themselves have admitted guilt or acknowledged responsibility.
That leaves us with the timing. It’s possible, though highly unlikely, that Lam, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and government prosecutors conspired together to make sure the charges were laid only after her election.
Or, maybe Lam was in the dark, as she claimed yesterday, but the others were in on it. If so, why not wait a bit longer?
It’s also possible, as the Department of Justice claimed yesterday, that the timing was purely coincidental. We will never know for sure. But we do know there is no persecution.