๐ Aside Enterprise
๐ Aside Enterprise
Week 2 of Election Nominations // CW: Rape Case
Good morning,
Happy Diwali to all those celebrating it! May this year bring light and peace to you and your family and friends. We try to stay very nice and international here on High Tide. I donโt personally celebrate Diwali but itโs so nice seeing what my Indian friends are doing.
I tried to find a post or something from the Indian CG (as we are oft to do with national holidays) but they didnโt post anythingโฆsince tomorrow is the last day of the festival, if you, our dear readers, have a message to share, please send it through!
Unfortunately, not all is positive today. Note the first CW Iโm putting into HT:
CW for Rape.
~ Writer name
On Todayโs Tide:
Joint Enterprise Not Applicable to Riots
COVID
International School Student Charged with Rape (CW)
Events
Paid Readers Exclusives
Daily Election Updates (stats from yours truly)
Mainland University - HK Students application program 2022/23 opened
Joint Enterprise not applicable to riots
In a wide-reaching decision from the Court of Final Appeal, โJoint Enterpriseโ cannot be used to convict individuals not physically present at unlawful assemblies or riots.
The lower courts had previously ruled that conspiring or advocating for the public to join an unlawful assembly, such as a protest, would put those individuals at the same legal risk as those who physically attended, even if the former does not themselves go to protest.
This meant that, say, sharing a post about a protest on social media would make one liable to being convicted of protesting. Obviously, thereโs some culpability but come on itโs just not the same thing.
Handing down the ruling, Chief Justice Andrew Cheung and his team said that โtaking partโ is an important part of unlawfully, yโknow, assembling or rioting.
They made it clear, however, that this does not relieve co-conspirators. HKU Law Professor Simon Young noted that one could still be prosecuted for conspiracy of incitement, both of which can take place outside of the scene of the crime.
A number of protest cases are now held in limbo.
COVID news
Coronavirus in Hong Kong
New cases:ย 7
International School Student Charged 3x Counts of Rape (CW)
A female international school student has taken another student to court over 3 counts of rape. At the time of the first incident, the student (called X in most media for anonymity) was only 13 and allegedly lost her virginity to the perpetrator. He continued to pressure her for sexual activities over the coming years at various private locations on Hong Kong island.
According to social media leaks, both students are from Hong Kong International School; it is also thought that the defendant is a member of the Hong Kong Basketball Association, although other information has been withheld for privacy reasons until a judgement is made.
The case (No. ESCC1319/2021) was tried at Eastern Magistrates Court. Lawyers for the defendant questioned why the initial police statement stated โsexโ rather than โrapeโ, to which the prosecution replied that the officer did not speak English as their first language and both accused and victim are primarily English speakers. The defense also questioned why the victim did not remember the date of the rape, if it were so important to her (Victim blaming? In this day and age?), and whether she remembers the dates of her family and friendsโ birthday. To this she replied โyes, but itโs not everyday you get rapedโ. Pretty savage.
The court is adjourned till next Thursday (11th)
Editorโs Note: High Tideโs tone is casual but we take these issues seriously. As usual where possible we are linking back to more formal reports. Quotes are not verbatim. If the need arises, a more formal reportage will be written for the Harbour Times main website.
Events / Exhibitions etc
Our events are handpicked from public exhibitions, partnerships/collaborations and also just stuff we find cool. We want to make sure that what we advertise is interesting for our readers, so if you go to an event that you saw here, let us know by taking a selfie and tagging us on Twitter or Instagram ( both @harbourtimes ).
Jewish Film Festival
One of the films featured at this upcoming festival is โOutremont and the Hasidimโ, a Canadian film centred around a community of Orthodox Jews living in Montreal.
Day of the Dead โ Art Alive
From the Twitter account of the Consulate of Mexico to HK: โBuilding on the concept of the traditional โAltar de Muertosโ, three Mexican artists have created original installations that incorporate digital art, video and sound, bringing a contemporary perspective on this important festivity.โ
When: 2-12 November, 2021 between 9AM-1PM and 3PM-5PM
Where: 2507-2509, 25/F Hopewell Centre, 183 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
Want your events on Tide as well? Let us know!Weโll throw in a free month of Paid High Tide for yourself or a friend!
Want your events on Tide as well? Let us know!
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