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United Nations, European Union worry Hong Kong’s new security law could threaten human rights

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The European Union and the United Nations said Hong Kong’s new national security bill was deeply worrying and could erode fundamental freedoms in the China-ruled city.

«It is alarming that such consequential legislation was rushed through the legislature through an accelerated process, in spite of serious concerns raised about the incompatibility of many of its provisions with international human rights law,» said United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk in a statement released on Tuesday.

The comments came the same day Hong Kong lawmakers unanimously passed the new bill only two weeks after it was first presented, fast-tracking a major piece of legislation that critics say further threatens the city’s freedoms.

HONG KONG LAWMAKERS UNANIMOUSLY PASS CONTROVERSIAL SECURITY LAW, GRANTING GOVERNMENT POWER TO CURB DISSENT

The package, known as Article 23, punishes offenses including treason, sabotage, sedition, the theft of state secrets, external interference and espionage with sentences ranging from several years to life imprisonment.

The legislation follows a China-imposed national security law passed in 2020 after violent street protests a year earlier.

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Since the law was imposed, scores of pro-democracy activists have been jailed and the legislation also triggered sanctions from the United States, including against Chief Executive John Lee and other senior government officials.

Hong Kong lawmakers

Lawmakers vote during the second reading of Safeguarding National Security Bill, also referred to as Basic Law Article 23, at the Hong Kong’s Legislative Council, in Hong Kong, China on March 19, 2024.  (Reuters/Joyce Zhou)

Turk’s statement said that broadly defined and vague provisions in the bill could lead to the «criminalization of a wide range of conduct protected under international human rights law, including freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and the right to receive and impart information.»

For it to be passed without a «thorough process of deliberation and meaningful consultation is a regressive step for the protection of human rights in Hong Kong,» he said.

The European Union said in a separate statement on Tuesday it was concerned about the «potential impact on the rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong» and the bill had the potential to «significantly» affect the work of the EU’s office as well as organizations and companies in Hong Kong.

«This also raises questions about Hong Kong’s long-term attractiveness as an international business hub,» it said.

It called on the special administrative region to strengthen confidence in the «high degree of autonomy» granted under the «one country, two systems» formula made when Hong Kong returned from British to Chinese rule in 1997.

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Britain said the legislation would impact Hong Kong’s reputation as an international city that respects the rule of law, has independent institutions and protects its citizens’ freedoms.

China on Wednesday urged the United Kingdom to stop making «groundless accusations» about the Article 23 legislation, according to a statement by its embassy in Britain.

China’s State Council Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, said the law would «secure Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability» as well as safeguard the interests of overseas investors, democracy and freedom.

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INTERNACIONAL

British doctor jailed for trying to kill mother’s partner with fake COVID jab

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A British doctor was on Wednesday jailed for more than 31 years for an audacious but unsuccessful plot to kill his mother’s partner with a fake COVID-19 vaccine, which involved him forging medical documents and dressing in disguise to poison his victim.

Thomas Kwan, 53, passed himself off as a nurse and even took his own mother’s blood pressure before administering poison to her then partner Patrick O’Hara in Newcastle, northern England.

BRITISH DOCTOR ADMITS TO ATTEMPTED MURDER AFTER INJECTING MOTHER’S PARTNER WITH POISON DISGUISED AS VACCINE

O’Hara survived but suffered from necrotising faciitis, a potentially fatal flesh-eating bacterial infection, after receiving the jab. He also underwent multiple operations.

Kwan, a family doctor in Sunderland, pleaded guilty to attempted murder last month shortly after his trial began at Newcastle Crown Court. He had previously admitted a charge of administering a noxious substance.

Judge Christina Lambert sentenced Kwan to 31 years and five months in prison for what she described as «an audacious plan to murder a man in plain sight».

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She told Kwan that his plan involved him «abusing your knowledge of the healthcare system», adding that his actions damaged public confidence in the healthcare profession.

A British doctor has been jailed for more than 31 years for a plot to kill his mother’s partner with a fake COVID-19 vaccine. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement after the sentencing that O’Hara was injected with «an as-yet unconfirmed toxin».

‘STRANGER THAN FICTION’

Prosecutor Peter Makepeace told jurors on the first day of Kwan’s trial: «Sometimes, occasionally perhaps, the truth really is stranger than fiction.»

He said Kwan was concerned about his mother’s will, which provided that her house would be inherited by O’Hara if he was still alive when his mother died.

«Mr Kwan used his encyclopaedic knowledge of, and research into, poisons to carry out his plan,» Makepeace said.

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«That plan was to disguise himself as a community nurse, attend Mr O’Hara’s address, the home he shared with the defendant’s mother, and inject him with a dangerous poison under the pretext of administering a COVID booster injection.»

Kwan checked into a hotel under a false name, used false number plates on his car and disguised himself with a wig to carry out the plan, Makepeace added.

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After Kwan was arrested, police found in his home a large number of castor beans and a recipe for manufacturing ricin, a biological toxin made from the beans. Exposure to as little as a pinhead amount of ricin can cause death.

A chemical expert concluded O’Hara was not injected with ricin, however.


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