CINA

WITHOUT ANY COMMENT:

All eyes on WTO protesters

By Keith Bradsher The New York Times

MONDAY, JANUARY 9, 2006

The prosecution of 14 people here after a violent demonstration at the World Trade Organization conference last month is turning into a contentious and diplomatically sticky issue for the governments of Hong Kong, China and South Korea.

Labor union federations and social groups, primarily from Asia and Europe, are trying to portray the 14 as "WTO political prisoners." They held a small march Monday in Hong Kong and said they had sent delegations to deliver letters, and in some cases hold demonstrations, at Chinese consulates and embassies in New York, Bangladesh, Belgium, Hungary, Thailand and Switzerland.

Legal proceedings against the demonstrators are scheduled to begin this week.

The prosecution of the protesters has drawn considerable attention in South Korea, with three of the country's most famous film and soap opera stars issuing a recent appeal for their release.

All but three of those facing prosecution are South Korean citizens.

The prosecution also coincides with considerable resentment in South Korea of China's tough treatment of refugees from North Korea, many of whom have been repatriated to face long prison terms and even execution.

The South Korean government has appealed to the Hong Kong government repeatedly to release the protesters here, all of whom are men. But the Hong Kong authorities have refused, pointing out that the protest on the night of Dec. 17 left 137 people injured, including 67 police officers.



"Hong Kong is a place where the rule of law is strongly upheld," said Wong Yan-lung, Hong Kong's secretary for justice, after meeting in Hong Kong on Monday with three opposition lawmakers from South Korea who complained about the prosecution. "This case is being processed in accordance with the laws of Hong Kong and our established and announced prosecution policy."

Britain returned Hong Kong to China in 1997, but the territory, now designated a special autonomous region, retains its own independent legal system. Large pro-democracy demonstrations here over the past two years have been peaceful, and government officials have expressed worries that local radicals might misinterpret leniency toward the WTO protesters as a willingness to tolerate violence.

South Korea and China have been closely aligned in strongly criticizing Japan for not doing more to acknowledge crimes committed during World War II. They have built a very close commercial relationship in the past two decades.



Hong Kong has close to 7,000 South Korean citizens, and Lee Kyu Hyung, South Korea's vice foreign minister, came here two days after the protest to express regret for the confrontation, and to ask for the release of all detainees.

The protesters, 11 of whom began a hunger strike last Thursday, contend they are innocent and are victims of mistaken identity.

Yang Kyung Kyu, the president of the Korean Federation of Transportation, Public and Social Services Workers' Unions and one of the 14 protesters being prosecuted, said at a news conference here on Monday that the Hong Kong police lacked experience in distinguishing people of Korean descent.

The police encircled the protesters on the night of Dec. 17 and then arrested more than 1,000 of them the following morning. It released all except 14 of them a day later.

All 14 have been released on bail but have not been allowed to leave the territory, with the exception of one who is a Taiwanese student and has been allowed to go home for exams. Another protester is Japanese and the last is a mainland Chinese citizen.

The first court hearing is scheduled for Wednesday. The protesters have been charged with unlawful assembly and officials have said that they are considering other charges, including assaulting police officers.


Many in Hong Kong were shocked by televised scenes of protesters who managed to get around police officers in riot gear and began using plywood boards and steel pipes to strike lightly protected officers. One police officer was hospitalized for 10 days, but most were treated and released the night of the protest.

Police officers have long enjoyed high social standing in Hong Kong, allowing thousands of working class men and women and their children to move up the social ladder.

朝鮮日報:

YONHAP (English&Korean):

Labor group threatens new protests in Hong Kong

HONG KONG, Jan. 9 -- The head of a South Korean labor umbrella organization on Monday threatened further protests in Hong Kong unless a group of South Korean farmer activists arrested there are acquitted of all criminal charges and released immediately.

Jun Jae-hwan, head of the militant Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), said his organization would dispatch 1,000 protesters if Hong Kong's court decides to convict any of the 11 South Korean protesters on trial.

The charged farmers joined more than 1,000 of their compatriots in staging anti-globalization rallies here during the December meeting of WTO ministers.

A total of 1,001 South Koreans were detained, but the rest were released without charge while. The other 11 faced trial on suspicion of staging violent rallies.

They have been waging a hunger strike since Thursday, claiming their charges have been fabricated.

The Hong Kong police on Friday admitted to making "minor mistakes" in handling the South Korean protesters, such as holding up the translation service for them during their investigation.

But Jun, who arrived here to observe the trial that is slated for Wednesday, claimed the Hong Kong prosecution was unlikely to withdraw its charges, and said his organization is preparing to stage a second round of street protests depending on the outcome of Wednesday's ruling.

"(The organization) will try to stage the second round of the demonstration rallies peacefully, but (its) leadership may not be able to control the protesters once they become emotional," Jun told reporters while visiting the protesters.

KCTU officials claimed the South Korean protesters were also drawing much sympathy from Hong Kong citizens, who have donated some 130 million won (US$132,000) so far to help with their legal expenses.

More than 3,000 Hong Kong citizens have also signed a petition calling for the acquittal of the South Koreans, according to the officials.

A group of some 400 civic activists from here were to hold a candlelight vigil in front of the house of Hong Kong's Chief Executive Donald Tsang later in the day, the officials said.

민노총 "시위대 억류시 1천명 홍콩 원정시위"..

`한국 시위대 석방촉구' 반 WTO 한국 원정시위대가 9일 무죄석방을 요구하며 5일째 단식농성을 벌이고 있는 홍콩 침사추이 페리터미널 앞에서 홍콩시민들이 이들의  조속한 석방을 촉구하며 성명에 서명하고 있다./정주호 특파원/국제뉴스부  기사참조/국제/                  2006.1.9 (홍콩=연합뉴스)

시위대 무죄방면촉구 페리터미널 단식농성 닷새째


    (홍콩=연합뉴스) 정주호 특파원 = 민주노총은 한국 시위대가 조속히 무죄  방면되지 않을 경우 또다시 1천명의 시위대를 홍콩에 파견, 대규모 시위를 벌이겠다고 9일 밝혔다.

    시위대 지원을 위해 홍콩을 방문한 전재환 민주노총 위원장은 오는 11일 재판에서 시위대에 대해 공소취하나 무죄 판결이 이뤄지지 않을 경우 오는 20∼22일  사이 300명의 선발대에 이어 모두 1천명의 원정 시위대를 재차 파견하겠다고 밝혔다.

    그는 홍콩 경찰의 현재 태도로 본다면 시위자들의 공소취하 가능성이 그렇게 높지 않다며 "2차 원정투쟁을 평화적으로 진행하겠지만 시위대의 감정이 격화되면  지도부도 이들을 통제하기 어렵다"고 덧붙였다.

    단식농성중인 양경규 민주노총 공공연맹 위원장은 민주노총과 전농 및 각  사회단체가 이런 방침을 정하고 11일 재판 결과에 따라 조직별로 2차 원정시위를 준비하고 있다고 말했다.

    양 위원장을 비롯한 시위대 11명은 구속후 보석 석방된 뒤 일본인 시위자  스케 나카기리(中桐康介.30)와 함께 9일 현재 침사추이 페리 터미널 앞에서 천막을  치고 세계무역기구(WTO) 반대 및 무죄 방면을 주장하며 5일부터 닷새째 단식 농성을 벌이고 있는 중이다.

    단식 농성장 앞에 홍콩 시민단체가 마련해놓은 모금함에는 홍콩 시민과  관광객들이 지금까지 10만홍콩달러(1억3천만원)의 성금을 기탁했으며 3천여명이 석방을 촉구하는 성명에 서명했다.

    재판 참관차 홍콩을 방문중인 권영길 민주노동당 임시대표와 강기갑, 단병호 의원은 9일 홍콩 검찰 지휘를 맡고 있는 웡옌룽(黃仁龍) 율정사장(법무 담당 부총리격)을 만나 시위대에 대한 공정한 재판과 조속한 석방을 촉구했다.

    한편 홍콩 시민과 운동가 400여명은 8일 홍콩 도심에서 시위대 무죄방면 촉구를 위한 가두행진을 벌인데 이어 9일 오후에도 시위대 무죄방면을 위한 국제 단결 집회를 갖고 홍콩 정부청사 앞까지 가두행진을 벌였다.

    이들은 또 이날 저녁 도널드 창(曾蔭權) 홍콩 행정장관 관사 앞에서 촛불집회도 가질 예정이며 10일 오후부터는 쿤통(觀塘) 법원 앞에서 홍콩  시민단체 100여명이 공판 개시 직전까지 24시간 동조 단식농성을 벌일 계획이다.

    박민웅 공공연맹 사무총장은 "홍콩 당국의 기소 내용이 전혀 사실과 맞지  않기 때문에 이를 철회할 때까지 무죄 투쟁을 벌이기로 했다"며 "홍콩  시민들의  지지와 성원이 놀라울 정도"라고 말했다.