Hong Kong’s Chief Executive, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor warned the demonstrators that they were pushing the city “falling into abyss”. Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor who was then appearing in emotional press conference on Tuesday (8/13/2019) cried and said that anarchist mass protests would only destroy Hong Kong.
Carrie Lam, who was fought by protesters in these two and a half months, also said, due to the disruption at the airport, the siege of the police station and the blocking of public roads, making the city no longer safe in international perceptions. “Hong Kong is seriously injured. It will take a long time to recover,” she said. No one benefit from the action so far because what the demonstrators have done is actually against the rule of law.
It is not without reason that the Hong Kong leader said that the extradition bill was needed as a protective measures for human rights. The extradition bill will not undermine the special freedoms currently enjoyed by Hong Kong citizens. Instead, the extradition bill was intent to close the legal loophole and to prevent Hong Kong from becoming a sanctuary for criminals. The bill will allow authorities in mainland China, Taiwan and Macau to extradite suspects accused of crimes such as murder and rape. Requests will then be decided on a case-by-case basis.
Hong Kong officials said the Hong Kong court would have a final decision on whether to grant such extradition requests, and suspects accused of political and religious crimes would not be extradited.
‘Seeking Refuge’ behind Extradition Injured Legal Norms
Extradition becomes a loophole used to hide elsewhere, especially if the country does not have such an agreement. Please note, extradition is a formal process in which a criminal suspect detained by a government handed over to another government to undergo trial. Or, the suspect has been tried and found guilty, undergoing the law.
Consensus in international law is that a country has no obligation to hand over criminal suspects to foreign countries. This is based on the sovereignty principle that every country has legal authority over people within its borders.
When we view in terms of respect and protection of human rights, extradition is a legal order that is ideal for the prevention and eradication of crime. It is ideal, because extradition imposes very strict and severe restrictions on the process of requesting and handing over perpetrators or those in extradition which are more popular in terms of the person requested. The human rights of the extradited person are truly respected and protected according to the applicable legal norms.
The bill is now death, delayed, withdrawn (semantic, anyway). So if the anti-government demonstrators’ shall continue to take more action, let it based on rational thought and not partially looking the bill as merely the Chinese legal system. Despite Hong Kong is supposed to be fully integrated into the Chinese state in 2047, Beijing vows Hong Kong’s future is still will be “high-degree-of-autonomy” under its Basic Law.
