24 Aug 2020獨媒#779
Department of Justice says evidence insufficient, withdraws two private prosecutions
民主黨立法會議員許智峯早前分別向去年11.11西灣河開槍交通警及10.6深水埗涉駕車撞傷途人的的士司機，提出私人檢控，今年6月獲裁判官批出傳票，兩被告原本須於本月31日出庭答辯，惟律政司上周介入兩案，要求撤銷檢控，今日（24日）於西九龍裁判法院開庭處理。律政司透露警方就此成立了「獨立調查小組」，稱結果顯示許智峯證據不足，惟拒絕披露更多詳情。裁判官最終批准正式撤銷所有傳票，並訂於10月15日處理的士司機的訟費申請。
Democratic Party Legislative Council member Ted Hui Chi-fung earlier brought private prosecutions against the traffic police officer who fired a shot in Sai Wan Ho on 11 November last year and the taxi driver allegedly involved in driving into and injuring people in Sham Shui Po on 6 October. A magistrate issued summonses in June, and the two defendants were originally required to appear in court on the 31st of this month to enter pleas. However, the Department of Justice intervened in the two cases last week and sought to withdraw the prosecutions. The cases were heard today (24th) at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts. The Department of Justice said the police had set up an “Independent Investigation Team” and that its findings showed that Ted Hui’s evidence was insufficient, but declined to disclose further details. The magistrate ultimately approved the formal withdrawal of all the summonses and set 15 October to deal with the taxi driver’s application for costs.
22 Aug 2020聞庫（立場）#777
Another upheaval at Cable News: three senior engineering department managers summarily dismissed; more than 220 news staff sign open letter demanding explanation — Cable: news operations unaffected
有線新聞近日接連有人事「地震」，三名工程部資深主管昨日被解僱，即時生效，據有線新聞部員工透露，三人在有線工作超過 20 年，幾乎是開台元老，引發新聞部嘩然。逾 220 名新聞部員工，包括港聞全體採主、記者，中國組全體記者等，今天向有線寬頻主席邱達昌、財務總裁郭子健發公開信，對三人被解僱感「震驚、不解，甚至憤怒」，稱他們被解僱對有線新聞是「難以挽回的損失」。
Cable News has recently faced a series of personnel upheavals. Three senior engineering department managers were dismissed with immediate effect yesterday. News department staff said the three had worked at Cable for more than 20 years and were almost founding employees, triggering shock across the news department. More than 220 news department staff, including all local news assignment editors and reporters and all reporters in the China desk, today sent an open letter to Cable Broadband chairman Chiu Tat-cheong and chief financial officer Kwok Tsz-kin. They described themselves as “shocked, perplexed and even angry” at the dismissals, saying that their departure represented “an irreparable loss” for Cable News.
22 Aug 2020聞庫（立場）#778
Cable News immediately dismisses three senior Engineering Department managers; HKJA fears layoffs will severely damage morale
有線新聞近日接連人事「地震」，三名工程部資深主管被解僱，即時生效，超過 220 名有線新聞部員工具名向管理層發公開信，表示「震驚、不解，甚至憤怒」。香港記者協會發聲明關注事件，憂慮裁員行動嚴重打擊員工士氣。
Cable News has recently undergone successive personnel upheaval, with three senior Engineering Department managers dismissed with immediate effect. More than 220 Cable News department employees jointly signed an open letter to management, saying they were “shocked, baffled and even angry”. The Hong Kong Journalists Association issued a statement expressing concern over the incident and fearing that the layoffs would severely damage staff morale.
21 Aug 2020獨媒#776
Motorcyclist in first National Security Law case denied habeas corpus application; bail bid set for next Tuesday
23歲男子唐英傑涉於本年七一駕駛插有「光復香港 時代革命」旗幟的電單車，上月被起訴煽動他人分裂國家罪及恐怖活動罪，為《港區國安法》生效後首宗檢控的案件。唐至今還柙逾一個月，高院昨日進行聆訊處理其人身保護令申請，法官押至今日（21日）下午頒布判詞，駁回唐的申請並下令支付訟費。唐另按一般程序申請保釋，由於人身保護令申請遭駁回，因此高院下周二會如期處理唐的保釋申請。
Twenty-three-year-old Tong Ying-kit allegedly rode a motorcycle displaying a “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times” flag on 1 July this year. He was charged last month with inciting others to secede and terrorist activities, in the first prosecution since the National Security Law for Hong Kong came into effect. Tong has been remanded in custody for more than a month. The High Court heard his habeas corpus application yesterday and the judge handed down a ruling this afternoon (21st), dismissing the application and ordering Tong to pay the legal costs. Tong also applied for bail under the ordinary procedure. As the habeas corpus application was dismissed, the High Court will hear his bail application as scheduled next Tuesday.
20 Aug 2020獨媒#772
Office Used as Primary Polling Station; Home Affairs Rejects Operating Subsidy, Tsun Yu Lo Files Claim for Payment
不少區議員早前借出辦事處，作6月「罷工罷課公投」及7月民主派立法會初選投票站，惟政府早前發聲明指以上用途與區議會無關，拒批該兩個月的營運開支津貼。民主黨屯門區議員盧俊宇今日入稟小額錢債審裁處，向民政事務處追討欠款。他表示其他區議員亦被欠款，冀「帶頭」向民政處施壓，要求盡快償還有關款項。
Many district councillors previously lent their offices for use as polling stations for the June “strike and class boycott referendum” and the July pan-democrat Legislative Council primary. However, the government earlier stated that these uses were unrelated to the District Councils and refused to approve operating expense subsidies for the two months. Democratic Party Tuen Mun District Councillor Tsun Yu Lo filed a claim with the Small Claims Tribunal today against the Home Affairs Department to recover the outstanding payment. Tsun Yu Lo said other district councillors were also owed money, and hoped to “take the lead” in pressuring the department to repay the amounts as soon as possible.
20 Aug 2020聞庫（立場）#773
US State Department notifies Hong Kong government of suspension of three bilateral agreements, reiterates ‘one country, one system’ view
北京強行為香港訂立國安法，美國再有相應措施制裁香港；美國國務院最新的聲明指，已經在 8 月 19 日通知港府，中止和香港簽訂的三項雙邊協議，包括移交逃犯和已判刑囚犯，以及雙方互相豁免徵收船公司在國際海運業務利得稅的協議。美國國務院指，行動反映美國深切關注，北京推行破壞香港自由的《港區國安法》。
Following Beijing’s imposition of the national security law on Hong Kong, the United States has announced further measures against Hong Kong. The US State Department said in its latest statement that it notified the Hong Kong government on 19 August that it would suspend three bilateral agreements with Hong Kong, including agreements on the extradition of fugitives and the transfer of sentenced persons, as well as an agreement providing reciprocal exemption from profits tax for shipping companies’ international shipping operations. The State Department said the move reflected the United States’ deep concern over Beijing’s implementation of the Hong Kong national security law, which it said undermined Hong Kong’s freedoms.
20 Aug 2020聞庫（立場）#774
[US Terminates Agreements] Chinese Foreign Ministry: Decision to Suspend Hong Kong–US Mutual Legal Assistance; Hong Kong Government: US Should Be Condemned by International Community
美國國務院昨日宣布暫停或終止特區政府與美國政府簽署的三條雙邊協議，包括移交逃犯、寬免國際航運入息雙重貨稅等三項雙邊協議，以凸顯美國深切關注北京在香港實施港區國安法。中國外交部發言人趙立堅今日在例行記者會上宣布，認為美方的錯誤行徑，中方決定香港特區暫停合併港美司法互助協定。
The US State Department announced yesterday that it would suspend or terminate three bilateral agreements signed between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the US Government, including agreements on the surrender of fugitives and the avoidance of double taxation on international shipping income, to highlight its deep concern over Beijing’s implementation of the Hong Kong national security law. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian announced at a regular press conference today that, in response to the US side’s erroneous conduct, China had decided that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region would suspend the Hong Kong–US mutual legal assistance agreement.
20 Aug 2020獨媒#775
HKJA and RTHK union jointly seek judicial review to overturn ruling on ‘Headliner’
香港電台節目《頭條新聞》早前被指諷刺警方執法而遭投訴，通訊局其後裁定包括污衊和侮辱警隊的投訴成立，向港台發出警告。
香港電台節目製作人員工會今日下午聯同香港記者協會入稟法院，提出司法覆核，要求推翻通訊局決定。
RTHK programme ‘Headliner’ was previously the subject of complaints alleging that it satirised police enforcement. The Communications Authority subsequently ruled that complaints, including those alleging that the programme defamed and insulted the police force, were substantiated and issued RTHK a warning.
The RTHK Programme Staff Union and the Hong Kong Journalists Association jointly filed for judicial review at the court this afternoon, seeking to overturn the Communications Authority’s decision.
18 Aug 2020獨媒#770
Probationary civil servants taking part in “illegal public activities” to be dismissed immediately; Carrie Lam: Employer has every reason to do so
行政會議於7月7日後休會，逾一個月後今日（8月18日）提早復會，行政長官林鄭月娥在行會舉行前見記者，大篇幅談及疫情。她拒絕正面評論有議員或杯葛「延任」立法會及警方搜查《蘋果日報》事件，但承認公務員指引已作修訂，在試用期間的公務員如參與「非法公眾活動」被捕，均會即時解僱，林鄭月娥形容是「作為僱主係大條道理唔再聘用。」
The Executive Council adjourned after July 7 and resumed early today (August 18), more than a month later. Before the meeting, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor spoke to reporters at length about the pandemic. She declined to comment directly on whether some legislators would boycott the “extension” of the Legislative Council, or on the police search of Apple Daily. However, she acknowledged that the civil service guidelines had been revised: probationary civil servants who are arrested for taking part in “illegal public activities” will be dismissed immediately. Lam said this was because, “as the employer, there is every reason not to employ them again.”
18 Aug 2020聞庫（立場）#771
Liberal Studies Textbooks Delete Content on Civil Disobedience, Rule of Law and Human Rights after De Facto Education Bureau Censorship
通識科近年受建制派狙擊。教育局去年推出通識教科書「專業諮詢服務」，被批評變相強制將課本送審。各出版社首按當局「諮詢」意見後首次作出的修訂版本昨日（17日）推出。《立場新聞》發現，通識科六大單元之一「今日香港」的各款教科書作出多處修訂，其中曾被《文匯報》大篇幅報道抨擊的《雅集新高中通識教育系列（第四版）》，將一整頁有關「公民抗命」的資料練習題刪走，當局要求刪除原因僅稱是「教學需要」。
Liberal Studies has come under attack from the pro-establishment camp in recent years. Last year, the Education Bureau introduced a “Professional Consultation Service” for Liberal Studies textbooks, which was criticised as effectively making it compulsory for textbooks to be submitted for vetting. The revised editions produced by publishers for the first time after following the authorities’ “consultation”意见 were released yesterday (17th). Stand News found that various Liberal Studies textbooks had made multiple revisions to the “Hong Kong Today” unit, one of the subject’s six major units. In the Ya Ji New Senior Secondary Liberal Studies Series (Fourth Edition), which had been extensively criticised in Wen Wei Po, an entire page of materials and exercises on “civil disobedience” was removed. The authorities’ stated reason for requiring its deletion was simply “teaching needs”.
Translations are supplied by the source workbook. Consult the original reporting for context.
