The British Government is aware that each of the nine key figures of the 'Occupy' Movement were found guilty of at least one public nuisance offence on 9 April. The Court found that the charges brought were constitutional. It also found that the offence of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance does not have the undesirable effect of curtailing or suppressing civil disobedience or supressing human rights.<\/p>
Sentencing is due on 24 April, and the defendants have the right to appeal including on the legitimacy of the legal provisions under which they were charged. It would therefore not be appropriate to comment further or in detail on these ongoing legal cases. It would be deeply concerning if this or any other ruling discourages legitimate protest in the future, or discourages young people from engaging in politics.<\/p>
Hong Kong citizens are guaranteed the right to freedom of assembly and demonstration under the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law. Hong Kong's success and stability depend on its high degree of autonomy and respect for the fundamental rights and freedoms enshrined in the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4306", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Baroness Goldie"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Baroness Goldie"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-04-25", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-04-25T16:29:01.05Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "16"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-04-09", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Hong Kong: Human Rights"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the charges (1) incitement to public nuisance, (2) incitement to incite public nuisance, and (3) conspiracy to public nuisance, used in Hong Kong; and what effect they anticipate such charges will have on Hong Kong\u2019s freedoms and sustaining the \u201ctwo systems, one country\u201d model.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/738", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Alton of Liverpool"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Alton of Liverpool"} ], "uin" : "HL15135"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 1, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }