Corruption is Everywhere > Hong Kong eliminating Free Press; Putin locks up another opposition politician

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The heroic Jimmy Lai could have left Hong Kong before being arrested but he refused to.

Hong Kong court sentences media tycoon Jimmy Lai

to long prison term

By Matt Bernardini

   

Media mogul Jimmy Lai was sentenced to five years and seven months in prison on Saturday by a Hong Kong District Court. Photo by Jerome Favre/EPA-EFE

Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai on Saturday was sentenced to five years and seven months in prison after being convicted on two counts of fraud.

A Hong Kong district court said that the 75-year-old breached land lease terms by deliberately concealing a consultancy firm at the offices of his now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper.

Judge Stanley Chan Kwong-chi said Lai had played a significant role in deceiving the publication's landowner under the cover of a "fairly sizeable and reputable" news outlet, the South China Morning Post reported.

"If a media organization, representing the so-called fourth power, allowed a firm to occupy its space without authorization to carry out its businesses, was it not that such organization did so under the aegis of its reputation as the media?" the judge asked.

The case against Lai has increased concerns about diminishing press freedom in Hong Kong.

Several pro-democracy media outlets closed after the introduction of a strict security law, which has been used to jail much of the city's political opposition.

Hong Kong has fallen 68 places from a year earlier to No. 148 in Reporters Without Borders' most recent World Press Freedom Index.

"Illegal demonstration, fraud, national security crimes -- the diversity of the charges against Jimmy Lai, and the staggering severity of the sentences imposed on him, show how desperate the Chinese regime is to silence this symbolic figure of press freedom in Hong Kong," Reporters Without Borders bureau head Cédric Alviani said Saturday.

Lai is already serving 20 months for his role in unauthorized assemblies during 2019 anti-government protests. The pro-democracy activist also faces charges under the national security law, including conspiracy to collude with foreign forces.

Foreign forces - does that mean media?

After the ruling, Lai must also pay a $256,850 fine and he is banned from managing companies for eight years.

No, I am not Russophobic or anti-Russian - but when you write laws for the express purpose of silencing political opposition, and then use those laws to lock up your opponents, then I have a problem. And I cannot see how you can pretend to be a democracy.

Russian antiwar politician Ilya Yashin sentenced to 8 1/2 years in prison

By Doug Cunningham

Antiwar Russian politician Ilya Yashin gives peace signs from glass cubicle in Russian court Friday.Yashin was sentenced to 8 1/2 years in prison for criticizing Russia's war on Ukraine, alleged by the Russian state of "spreading false information" about Russian atrocities in Ukraine. Photo courtesy of Ilya Yashin Facebook page

Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin was sentenced Friday to 8 1/2 years in prison after criticizing Russian Presdient Vladimir Putin and the war on Ukraine on his YouTube channel.

In a democracy, criticizing the government is what political opponents do!

A Russian court found him guilty of "spreading false information" about Russian atrocities in the Ukrainian city of Bucha committed in February and March. Yashin was prosecuted under a law passed after Russia invaded Ukraine

Yashin posted a message on Telegram reacting to his sentence.

"So, the court sentenced me to 8 years and 6 months in prison," he wrote. "Well, the authors of the verdict are optimistic about Putin's prospects. In my opinion, way too optimistic."

Yashin added that with the "hysterical verdict," the Russian government wants to intimidate all Russians, but he said in fact it demonstrates weakness.

"Only weaklings seek to shut everyone up, burn out any dissent," Yashin wrote in the Telegram post. "So today it only remains for me to repeat what was said on the day of my arrest: I am not afraid, and you are not afraid."

Yashin's conviction and sentence is another example of Russian suppression of dissent, and media coverage criticizing the war on Ukraine.

In a courtroom speech, Yashin said, "It physically pains me to think how many people have been killed in this war, how many lives have been ruined, and how many families have lost their homes. You cannot be indifferent. And I swear I do not regret anything."

He said it's better to spend 10 years behind bars as an honest man than "quietly burn with shame over the blood spilled by your government."

Russian antiwar protests have led to thousands of arrests. Thousands of Russians have also fled the country rather than be drafted to fight in Ukraine.

Putin has done a very poor job of selling this war to the Russian people.  He hasn't attempted to explain that the war is actually a proxy war with NATO and America. 

Snowden Delighted Hong Kong Friends Find Refuge in Canada

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‘Best news in long, long time’: Edward Snowden hails Canadian

resettlement of refugee family who sheltered him in Hong Kong

29 Sep, 2021 10:49

FILE PHOTO. The seven 'Snowden refugees' in Hong Kong. Supun Kellapatha on the right with his daughter Sethumdi in pink and Nadeeka Nonis holding their son Dinath. Mae Rodel on the left with daughter Keana. Ajith Puspa behind.

©Jayne Russell / Global Look Press

Canada has finally agreed to grant residency to a Sri Lankan family that was among the refugees who offered hospitality to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden when he went to Hong Kong to share classified materials with journalists.

Snowden spent two weeks hiding from possible pursuers at various locations in a poor area of Kowloon Walled City in the semi-autonomous Chinese city in 2013. The homes of asylum seekers mostly overlooked by Hong Kong authorities were great spots to lay low. But the lives of his generous hosts were turned upside down after their Western guest became a world-famous fugitive from the US government.

This week, four of the seven so-called ‘Snowden refugees’ saw a major positive development in their lives after Canada finally accepted their bids for permanent residency. Supun Thilina Kellapatha, his wife Nadeeka Dilrukshi Nonis and their two children were allowed to fly to Toronto on Tuesday and are expected to settle in Montreal, according to a campaign advocating on their behalf. The couple are Sri Lankan nationals while their children are stateless.

“We are thrilled beyond measure to see this long ordeal finally come to an end for Supun, Nadeeka and their children,” said immigration lawyer Marc-Andre Seguin. He heads the For the Refugees non-profit organization, which offered to be a private refugee sponsor for all seven people.

After over a decade in limbo they can now begin to build new lives in Canada, reunited with the rest of their family and free of the constant fear and worry that marked their existence as high-profile asylum seekers in Hong Kong.

Snowden, who for a long time has been a vocal supporter of his ‘guardian angels’, said it was “the best news I’ve heard in a long, long time.”

The four will be reunited with Filipina Vanessa Mae Rodel and her daughter, who was born in Hong Kong. They were granted permanent residency in Canada in March 2019, but their relocation was bittersweet. Vanessa and Supun were in a relationship and he is the father of her daughter, who got separated from her dad and two step-siblings when she moved to Canada.

The seventh person in the group is former Sri Lankan soldier Ajith Pushpakumara. He remains in Hong Kong, as his application for Canadian residency makes its way through red tape. 

“I just hope that Canada will do the right thing and let him in,” Seguin told Canadian media. “They’ve been through so much together… There is that sense of belonging in the group.”

The campaign and Snowden called on Ottawa to expedite processing the immigration paperwork required for Ajith’s relocation. Applications on behalf of all seven refugees were filed in January 2017.

The four adults all fled persecution in their home countries. They sought asylum in Hong Kong, but their bids were all rejected several months after they applied for Canadian residencies. Their advocates believe city authorities took that decision in retaliation for the help they offered Snowden.

Snowden himself enjoys political asylum in Russia, where he got stranded after the US revoked his passport as he was flying from Hong Kong to Latin America through Moscow. He picked Hong Kong as the location to share materials exposing US illegal mass surveillance programs because the city for him was a “symbol of democratic resistance” to Beijing’s autocracy, according to Glenn Greenwald, one of the reporters he met with there.

Snowden went into hiding with the asylum seekers after his work with the journalists at the Mira hotel was complete. His hosts said they perceived the American as a fellow refugee seeking safety. The identities and roles that they played in Snowden’s life were first made public in 2016.

It's a little curious that Canada would do this so soon after the USA arranged the transfer of Meng Wanzhou (Huawei CFO) for the two Michaels. 

Meng (known in China as the Princess of Huawei) was arrested Dec 1st, 2018 at Vancouver Int'l Airport on a warrant from the USA for fraud (actually, for apparently bypassing American sanctions on Iran). Shortly thereafter, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, both Canadians, were arrested in China on spying charges. More than 1000 days later after Meng was under house arrest in Vancouver and the two Michaels were in a Chinese prison, the USA arranged a deal with Huawei and China for Meng to plead guilty and pay a large fine. In exchange, they dropped all charges, and Meng was allowed to fly home. While still in the air, the two Michaels began flying back to Canada, their charges apparently dropped as well.

This is justice, China style - hostage diplomacy. But Canada's handling of this case was disgraceful. There is no way that Canada should have started a major diplomatic rift with China because of American sanctions. If our Liberal government had any courage it would have told Washington to do their own dirty work. Instead, Trudeau repeated many times that Canada is a country where the government doesn't interfere with the rule of law. He has already forgotten the political atrocity of SNC-Lavalin where he interfered with the Attorney-General's work so much that it cost him two of his best cabinet ministers. Of course, Canada's Liberal media glossed it over and took Trudeau's side. 

I welcome the two Michaels home, but hope they tell us how they really feel about the Liberal Government.

Corruption is Everywhere - Certainly at Goldman Sachs

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Hong Kong slaps Goldman Sachs with record fine over looting

of Malaysia’s state fund

22 Oct 2020 14:54

© Reuters / Brendan McDermid

Goldman Sachs (Asia) has been fined $350 million by Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) for its role in a multibillion-dollar scandal that involved top Malaysian officials, including its former prime minister.

The fine is the highest ever imposed by the Hong Kong markets’ watchdog. The SFC said on Thursday that the regional unit of the US investment bank was fined due to “serious lapses and deficiencies in its management supervisory, risk, compliance and anti-money-laundering controls that contributed to the misappropriation of $2.6 billion” from three bond offerings in 2012 and 2013 that raised $6.5 billion for 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

The SFC added that Goldman Sachs (Asia) in Hong Kong had significant involvement in the origination, approval, execution and sales process of the three 1MDB bond offerings.

According to the commission, the Wall Street bank received $581.5 million in fees from 1MDB, inclusive of $567 million in commission from the three bond sales. Its Hong Kong unit alone collected $210 million, or 37 percent of the total fees from the debt sales, the largest chunk among various Goldman Sachs entities.

“This enforcement action is the result of a rigorous, independent investigation conducted by the SFC into whether Goldman Sachs (Asia)’s involvement with 1MDB in 2012 and 2013 contravened the standards expected of firms under Hong Kong regulations,” said Ashley Alder, the SFC’s chief executive.

“The penalty in this case – assessed solely in accordance with Hong Kong’s own fining framework – reflects our findings that Goldman Sachs (Asia) failed to deal properly with numerous suspicious circumstances surrounding the 1MDB bond offerings. These failures led to multiple, serious breaches of the rules which set out the high standards of behavior expected of all firms supervised by the SFC,” Alder added.

Last year, the SFC banned former Goldman Sachs (Asia) partner Tim Leissner from working as a securities and financial adviser in the city for life, in relation to the 1MDB corruption scandal. Leissner pleaded guilty in August 2018 to criminal charges brought against him by the US Department of Justice for money laundering and corruption.

1MDB was set up in 2009 by Najib Razak, then-prime minister of Malaysia, who was sentenced to 12 years in jail after being convicted on all charges related to the fund. Goldman Sachs was the main banker for the fund and helped it to raise $6.5 billion through bond sales. However, much of the funds were misappropriated during the process by government officials and two Goldman bankers, while the bank was accused of covering up the looting of the nation’s state fund. 

Superyacht Equanimity - purchased with funds pilfered from 1MDB

The money siphoned off from state coffers was used to buy everything from artwork and jewelry to real estate and a superyacht. Some of the cash helped to finance the movie, ‘The Wolf of Wall Street,’ which earned actor Leonardo DiCaprio a Golden Globe for his performance as a stock-market scammer.

In September, Malaysia dropped criminal charges against Goldman Sachs after the bank agreed to pay $4 billion in compensation. However, that did not prevent the Wall Street bank from facing prosecution linked to the 1MDB saga in other countries.

Search this blog for 1MDB for more background on this story.

Christians Lend Anthem, Pacifist Spirit to Hong Kong Protests

By Alexandra Radu, Religion News Service

More than 15,000 people attend an evening rally in Hong Kong on Friday, the first large-scale political rally

for Christians since the democracy movement started in June. Photo by Alexandra Radu/RNS

HONG KONG, (UPI) -- Since protests began more than 12 weeks ago over an extradition bill that would allow Hong Kong residents to be sent to mainland China for trial, the city's Christian community has taken an active role.

Groups of Christians regularly participate in the marches that have coursed through Hong Kong's streets every weekend since June, and their pleas for peaceful protests and their hymns and prayers are often heard along with protest chants. One hymn, "Sing Hallelujah to the Lord," written in 1974, has caught on as an anthem of the protests, sung by believers and nonbelievers alike.

The Christian hymn not only inspires: It grants the protesters some protection under a technicality in Hong Kong law of public assembly that exempts religious gatherings.

The bill that brought the protesters out into the streets has since been suspended, but the demonstrations have continued, turning into a larger campaign for democracy and for maintaining the "one country, two systems" model agreed upon when the former British colony returned to China in 1997.

The protests have sometimes turned violent. While some Hong Kong residents see violence as the only way to obtain their demands, many, including most Christians, choose to support the protests through peaceful means. The city's Christians number about 900,000, or 12 percent of Hong Kong's population of roughly 7.5 million.

Several Christian organizations have officially voiced their concerns over the extradition bill, including the Hong Kong Christian Council, the Catholic Diocese, the Baptist Convention of Hong Kong and the Christian & Missionary Alliance Church Union of Hong Kong. They have also urged the protesters to find a peaceful solution to the crisis.

The protests have provided Christians with an opportunity to voice their concerns about religious freedom. If China ends the "one country, two systems" status quo, they fear, the persecution of religious denominations in mainland China may spread to Hong Kong.

On Friday, tens of thousands of people gathered in Chater Garden for the first large-scale political rally specifically for Christians. With the motto "Salt and light, for justice we walk together," the rally aimed to "provide all Christians a platform to express themselves outside the church, hoping people would safeguard Hong Kong by singing, praying, worshiping God and at the same time speaking up for justice and standing together with all the Hong Kongers in difficult times," said a press release from the rally organizer.

Hong Kong protesters turn out in force for 11th weekend

A massive sea of umbrellas is seen from above as protesters leave an anti-government rally in Hong Kong's Victoria Park

on Sunday. Organizers estimated 1.7 million people turned out for the demonstration. Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI

Call it the Umbrella Revolution! It's rainy season in Hong Kong, but it hasn't slowed the protest one bit. Although calling it a revolution is not quite accurate as they are not trying to change anything, but rather keep things the same. 

I'm proud of the Christians who stand up for Hong Kong and who do it peacefully. Violence will certainly give China an excuse to invade the city with their army and crush the protesters. They would like to have done so by now but can't figure out how to do it without the violence being instantly relayed around the world. It's not like Tienanmen Square, everyone has a cell phone.

But, while violence is likely to be the trigger for a Chinese takeover, communist paranoia may, in fact, see the growing Christian movement as a worse threat. They have always accused Christians of trying to invade China with western ideology and have used that as an excuse to imprison countless Christians, some of whom were never seen again.

Pray for peace in Hong Kong and for the government in Beijing to back-off and allow Hong Kong to prosper as it has for many decades.

Two Years Later, Chinese Human Rights Lawyer Gao Zhisheng is Still Missing

And Beijing wonders why Hong Kong is making such a stink

Gao Zhisheng's book

(Photo: ChinaAid)

ChinaAid

(Yulin, Shaanxi—Aug. 14, 2019) It has been two years since the brother of the prominent Chinese human rights lawyer and Noble Prize nominee Gao Zhisheng arrived at the attorney’s apartment in Shaanxi province for a visit on Aug. 13, 2017, only to discover him gone. 

For 23 days, his supporters assumed him kidnapped by authorities, much like he had been several times before. In reality, however, the officials were searching relentlessly, finally crossing the border into the neighboring Shanxi province and finding him with two sympathizers, Shao Zhongguo and Li Fawang, who had smuggled him out of his home in order to free him from the watchful eyes of the authorities. He had lived under the surveillance for three years, following his 2014 release from prison.

Human Rights Activist Slowly, Torturously Destroyed by Chinese Government - Aug 2014

Upon discovery, Gao immediately vanished into police custody, and Shao and Li were criminally detained.

Since then, the outside world has heard little information about Gao. Sometime after his disappearance, Beijing officials claimed they had him in secret custody within the Chinese capital, but no one has been able to verify their claim. Likewise, Gao’s family does not know where he is being held, and he has not been allowed to consult with lawyers.

Chinese law dictates that it is illegal for prisoners to be held for more than six months without a charge, and Gao has now been held for four times that amount, constituting a severe violation of rule of law.

Gao’s previous arrests and disappearances all stem from his human rights work, and he describes the horror he faced in his piece “Dark Night, Dark Hood, and Kidnapping by Dark Mafia.”

During the three years Gao lived in his apartment, he secretly penned Unwavering Convictions, a book which describes atrocities committed by the Chinese Communist Party. ChinaAid smuggled the book out of China and published it with the Carolina Academic Press and the American Bar Association. The book, which has been translated into English, can be purchased at the above link.

Because of the mounting pressure against their family, Gao’s wife and children fled to the United States in 2009.

This is why Hong Kong is fighting so hard to refuse China the right to try Hong Kong criminal cases on mainland China. There is no respect of their own laws, legal decisions are more often political, and innocent people just disappear for years. I fear for Hong Kong as I believe China is in crouch mode, ready to spring at the first opportunity. Escalating violence will provide that opportunity.