HONG KONG – More than 1,000 Hong Kong lawyers dressed in black marched through the heart of the city in silence on Tuesday to condemn a move by China that effectively bars two elected pro-independence lawmakers from taking their seats in the legislature.
The former British colony returned to China in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” agreement that ensured its freedoms, including a separate legal system. But Beijing has ultimate control and some Hong Kong people are concerned it is increasingly interfering to head off dissent.
Local and foreign lawyers walked from the High Court to the city’s highest court, underscoring growing concern among Hong Kong’s legal elite with how Beijing has handled affairs in the “special administrative region” of Communist Party-ruled China.
Organizers said more than 2,000 took part in the fourth and largest silent protest by the city’s lawyers since 1997. Police said 1,700 attended at the peak.
The lawyers bowed their heads to observe three minutes’ silence outside the colonial Court of Final Appeal building, lit up beneath the statue of Lady Justice.
“I thank you, I salute you, I love you all,” veteran pro-democracy barrister Martin Lee, looking pained, told the crowd at the end of the rally.
The demonstration follows a decision by China’s parliament to interpret Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, or Basic Law, to effectively bar the independence lawmakers from taking their oaths of office.
