Reuters: Lawyer says Falun Gong has right to protest in Hong Kong

"This place is a public place and Hong Kong people have the right to demonstrate in a public place," lawyer John Haynes told a court in the territory's first trial of members of the [...] spiritual movement.

Though banned in mainland China, Falun Gong is legal in Hong Kong, which was promised a high degree of autonomy when it returned to Chinese rule on July 1, 1997. The local government's decision to prosecute the 16, who include four Swiss nationals, has raised questions about freedoms in the territory five years into Chinese rule.[...]

All pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Falun Gong followers say the arrests and charges constitute political persecution by the local government under pressure from Jiang and that "obstruction" is an excuse to prosecute them.

"To conclude that a small demonstration in such a large public area could or might obstruct...or endanger persons is neither logical nor reasonable and is an unjustifiable and ungenerous restriction on the Hong Kong right to demonstrate," Haynes said.

"The public's right to the public pavement (outside the Chinese office) had been gradually and improperly compromised, so that by March 14 the local police had begun to believe that no demos, however small, could be allowed directly in front of the (Chinese) flag," he contended.

Haynes noted the government was attaching more importance to the case than other obstruction cases and had appointed a senior lawyer. He said he hoped that was because the prosecution understood that the case might interfere with the citizens' rights to demonstrate. [...]

The trial coincides with what appears to be a tougher stand by Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-hwa against Beijing's critics.