Hong Kong activist Chan Po-ying loses appeal against conviction over collecting money in public without permit
Hong Kong Free Press
The leader of one of Hong Kong’s last remaining opposition parties has lost an appeal against her conviction over collecting money in a public place without a permit.
Chan Po-ying, the chairperson of the League of Social Democrats (LSD), heard the outcome of her appeal at the High Court’s Court of First Instance on Tuesday morning. Her legal challenge came after she was convicted and fined HK$1,000 last year over displaying QR codes for the party’s Patreon page at street booths on July 24 and August 14 in 2021.
High Court Deputy Judge Frankie Yiu ruled that showing QR codes in the street and appealing to people to donate constituted money collection. Yiu said the magistrate that found Chan guilty was right.
Chan and a volunteer, Christina Tang, were both found guilty in the case, and Tang was fined HK$800. Only Chan proceeded with the appeal.
The LSD is one of Hong Kong’s last remaining opposition groups after dozens of pro-democracy groups disbanded following the enactment of the Beijing-imposed national security law.
Chan told the press after Yiu delivered the judgement that she planned to take the case to the Court of Final Appeal, Hong Kong’s top court.
“What we were doing was not a fundraising activity. It was a political activity promoting our beliefs, with QR codes printed on the banners, but we were charged with collecting money,” Chan said in Cantonese. Around 10 police officers stood nearby.
“We’re worried that our freedoms will shrink further. Maybe we will be banned from holding street booths in the future,” Chan added.
Freedom of speech
Hosting street booths to promote political ideas and raise funds used to be common among Hong Kong’s political parties. But since the national security law came into force in June 2020, many opposition parties have become less active, while dozens have disbanded altogether.
The LSD, however, has continued to hold street booths over the past few years. Chan said while some police officers would closely monitor them and take videos, they generally had not run into trouble.
At the street booths at the centre of Chan’s case, the LSD had banners with QR codes and a call for the public to “donate to support Long Hair,” referring to the party’s vice-chair Leung Kwok-hung who is also Chan’s husband. Leung is currently detained as he awaits sentencing over the 47 democrats national security case.
The defence argued in the case that Chan had not collected any money while hosting the street booths because she had only provided QR codes on promotional materials. Transactions, if there were any, occurred online, not in a public space.
The defence also argued that sharing information about donating and appealing to others to donate were protected under the rights to freedom of speech.
No permit is required for holding street booths in Hong Kong. However, according to the Summary Offence Ordinance, money collection activities in public places constitute a nuisance and therefore is illegal, unless permission has been granted by Director of Social Welfare or the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs.
Speaking outside the High Court, Chan said it was unclear to her how “public place” and “money collection” were defined, adding that the party had not had a donation box, only banners and QR codes.
Judge Yiu did not accept these arguments.
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“It is worrying. [The authorities] always say people have a right to freedom of speech, but that everyone needs to obey the law. And then the court interpreted the laws in a narrow way,” Chan said.
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