Charged with Displaying Banner on Lion Rock Without a Permit, “Grandpa Chan” Acquitted; Chokes Up Outside Court and Urges People to Cherish Human Rights
被控沒許可證獅子山展示條幅 「馬屎埔陳伯」獲判無罪 庭外哽咽籲珍惜人權
On the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2023, “Grandpa Chan” Ki Kau Chan climbed Lion Rock and displayed the words from Lu Xun: “With brows arched, I coldly face a thousand pointing fingers; bowing my head, I willingly serve as a willing ox for the children.” The person was later arrested. Chan denied one count of displaying a banner in a country park without a permit and was found not guilty at Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts on Tuesday (the 10th), with an award of costs. The prosecution and defence disputed the definition of “display”. Magistrate Chee Hong Lam ruled that “display” under the relevant legislation had to be permanent or regular in nature. However, based on the evidence in this case, the period from when the defendant raised the banner until it was placed on the “Lion Rock” plaque was about one minute. The magistrate found that the prosecution had failed to prove that the defendant had “displayed” the banner. After the verdict, people attending the hearing applauded but were stopped by security guards. Outside court, “Grandpa Chan” embraced friends and held up photographs from the incident, saying that over the 14 months since it happened, “the pressure and all the hardships are impossible to describe”. Choking up, the person said: “Today is International Human Rights Day. Being able to breathe a sigh of relief today, my mindset (is) to continue upholding justice and human rights. We do as much as we can. Everyone has a share in human rights, so everyone should cherish them.”
2023 年中秋前夕，「馬屎埔陳伯」陳基裘登上獅子山，展示出自魯迅的「橫眉冷對千夫指 俯首甘為孺子牛」字句，事後被捕。陳否認一項「沒有許可證下於郊野公園內展示條幅罪」受審，周二（10 日）在九龍城裁判法院被裁定罪名不成立，兼獲訟費。 控辯雙方爭議「展示」定義，裁判官林子康裁定，涉案條例的「展示」須具永久或規律性，然而根據本案證據，被告由舉起條幅至放在「獅子山」牌匾上，歷時約一分鐘，認為控方未能證明被告「展示」條幅。 旁聽人士聞判後拍掌，被保安阻止。「馬屎埔陳伯」在庭外與友人相擁，拿起案發相片，表示事發 14 個月以來，「壓力、一切苦衷係冇辦法形容嘅」。他哽咽稱：「今日係國際人權日，我能夠喺今日鬆一口氣，我個心態（是）繼續維護公義、維護人權，我哋做得幾多得幾多，人權係大家都有份嘅，所以大家要珍惜」。