Activists
Burn Copies Of Subversion Law Plan In
About 15
pro-democracy activists on
Sunday burned copies
of a proposal for a new
anti-subversion law outside
"Shame on the
chanted during a march to
the building. "Freedom of
expression cannot be
deprived!"
They later dispersed
peacefully.
In a proposal unveiled
Tuesday, the government
suggested giving police
broader investigative powers
and setting harsher
penalties for serious crimes
against the state, including
treason, secession,
sedition and subversion. The
maximum penalty would be
life imprisonment.
One of the activists,
Rev. Fung Chi-
The report on the
proposed law "is very vague," Fung
said. "We are
extremely worried that
become a city without freedom
of expression."
Fung is among those
who have long feared that the new
law could be used to
erode the freedoms that set
capitalist
In the face of
increasing criticism,
security official, Regina Ip, said in a radio
interview Saturday that she
would "study" the
possibility of extending the
time period for the
public to respond to the
proposed law.
"I'm still not
convinced, but I'll study this," Ip
said.
Ip also tried to allay
fears that the anti-subversion
law would be used to
curb press freedom. The law
proposes outlawing the
"unauthorized and damaging"
disclosure of state secrets,
even if they were
illegally obtained by a third
party and leaked to the
media.
Ip said she believed
the media could judge whether the information was obtained legally.
Ip told lawmakers
earlier that the government hoped to
see the new legislation
enacted by next July, after
the government announced
that
ahead with the widely
unpopular legislation after five
years as part of
Top officials had
stressed that the law would be
rarely used and would not
violate international human
rights treaties or civil
liberties promised to Hong
Kong when the former
British colony was returned to