法律界議員郭榮鏗和30位法律界選委,8月7日舉行回歸後第六次法律界「黑衣遊行」,亦是兩個月來第二次,力促港府就修訂《逃犯條例》引發的多場警民衝突,設立獨立調查委員會,同時要求律政司須保持獨立,勿參與檢控,避免利益衝突。
遊行隊伍在中午12時半於終審法院集合,途經花園道遊行至律政司司長鄭若驊辦公室律政中心後,再舉行集會。至中午2時20分左右,郭榮鏗宣布集會結束,現場逾3000人參與,較6月6日遊行的人數更多。
法律界人士要求鄭若驊及刑事檢控專員梁卓然,出來對話,唯等候逾一小時鄭、梁均未有回應。
大律師公會前主席李柱銘發言時表示,指政府濫捕濫告,破壞了法治精神,「穿黑衫的就即刻拉、即刻告,白衫嗰啲睇住佢走,遲遲都不起訴」。現時律政司選擇性起訴,是不能接受。
大律師公會前主席、資深大律師陳景生說,現時社會不安,政府應成立一個獲得市民信任的獨立調查委員會,以尋求事件真相,市民對監警會信心不大。
Thousands of legal sector professionals staged the sixth march, dressed in black, since 1997 and the second in two months, urging an end to political prosecutions, for the Secretary of Justice to retain its independence and excuse herself from prosecution decision to avoid conflict of interest, and for the government to form an independent commission of inquiry to investigate events that occurred during the anti-extradition bill protests.
The lawyers gathered at the Court of Final Appeal before marching in silence to Department of Justice’s office on Wednesday from around 12:50 pm. Legal sector lawmaker Dennis Kwok said over 3,000 joined, which was more than the number of people marching on June 6.
The legal profession asked Teresa Cheng, Secretary for Justice, and the Director of Public Prosecutions, Leung Cheuk-yan, to come out to have a diaglogue. However, after waiting for more than an hour, Cheng and Leung did not respond.
Martin Lee, former Chairman of the Bar Association, said that the government’s indiscriminate arrest undermined the spirit of the rule of law. Protesters were immediately arrested and prosecuted while attacking mobs can walk away and not prosecuted. The selective prosecution by the Department of Justice is unacceptable.
Senior Counsel Chan King-sang, former Chairman of the Bar Association, said that to resolve current social unrest, the government should set up an independent commission of inquiry that the public can trust to seek the truth of the incident. The public has little confidence in the Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC).