HONG KONG, May 12 (Reuters) – China on Friday condemned a U.S. congressional report that called for sanctions against 29 Hong Kong judges involved in the city’s national security cases, given their role in “weakening” the rule of law.
The report by the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) – which advises Congress – said a national security law China imposed on Hong Kong in 2020 in response to pro-democracy demonstrations had “created a parallel legal system that weakens judicial independence and strips criminal defendants of basic due process protections”.
Only judges appointed by Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing leader have been allowed to hear national security cases, in what the report said was an “opaque” process that had helped “diminish the public’s trust in the judiciary”.
“As participants in this system, judges appointed to handle national security cases contribute to these systemic violations,” the report said.
It urged the U.S. government to impose sanctions on 29 known national security judges including lower level magistrates and those sitting on the city’s highest court.
Read the full report at
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