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University of Hong Kong warns student union screening of documentary about activist could violate law
- Management warns showing the profile of Edward Leung, who was jailed over the Mong Kok riot, may be a breach of law and points to limits on public gatherings
- But union remains defiant and says film about integral part of city’s history will go ahead as planned
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The University of Hong Kong has urged its student union to scrap a planned showing of a documentary about a jailed pro-independence activist, warning that the screening could breach the law and the social-distancing rule limiting public gatherings.
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While the university has not spelled out in a public statement what law it was referring to, the union accused management of political suppression. It said the university had sent a notice that referred to the national security law and also claimed to have learned security guards could be deployed if the screening went ahead. But the screenings would go ahead as planned, it said.
In the letter, part of which was posted on the Facebook page of the student broadcaster Campus TV on Tuesday, the union was warned some scenes in the Cantonese-language Lost in the Fumes – including activist Edward Leung Tin-kei shouting the slogans “Reclaim Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times”, could have “serious legal concerns and consequences”.
Part of the nine pages of the letter posted read: “The current [national security law] environment is fundamentally different … It is far more stringent and taxing.
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“The mere fact that those wordings appear on the screen … and the ethos expressed … will invite the undesirable attention of the opposition party and law enforcement agencies.”
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