Hong Kong at twilight
Invoking emergency laws dating back to the colonial era british and not implanted from the riots of 1967, the Government of Hong Kong has prohibited this Friday the masks at the protests in order to end up with social upheaval demanding democracy that has already lasted almost four months. The legislation, which comes into force at midnight (six in the afternoon, Spanish time) without the need to be approved by the Parliament, provides for penalties of up to a year in jail and fines of 25,000 Hong Kong dollars (2.900 euro) for those who wear a mask or face shield to prevent the Police your identification in the demonstrations, both those approved by the authorities as not allowed.
“it has Not been an easy decision because this legislation has not been used in a long time, but it’s a reasonable and legal by the escalation of violence, especially by young people and students over the last few weeks,” explained the chief executive of the local Government, Carrie Lam , in a crowded press conference. Accompanied by his entire cabinet, and under a sign that read in chinese and English “Value Hong Kong, just with the violence,” Lam has been recognized that it has been forced to resort to these special powers to end the violence and the vandalism unleashed every weekend in the city . But it has nuanced that “this does not mean that Hong Kong is under the state of emergency” and has insisted that “there is still respecting freedom of expression”.
Although he denied that the invocation of the ordinance of emergency laws is the first step to enacting other more drastic measures, such as curfews, media censorship and the internet or the suspension of the district elections scheduled for next month, it has not ruled out new actions , such as extending the period of detention, which is now 48 hours. “We’re not entirely sure that the regulation will end the violence, but we have to react to a changing situation. If you do not have violence, we would not use this measure,” said Lam, who urged “parents and teachers ask youth and students not to participate in illegal acts, or wear masks, because they have been banned”.
Before the fear that this law undermine the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong, higher than in the rest of China, the head of Security, John Lee, noted that there will be exceptions for reasons of “professional, safety, and religious”, and recalled that other countries, like the united States, Canada, France, Germany or Spain, have similar rules. But the new measure has been received with so much rejection, even before it comes into force, they have formed spontaneous demonstrations by the center and other neighborhoods with thousands of people wearing masks.
