HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s pro-democracy camp are trying to claw back lost seats in controversial by-elections held Sunday that have exposed the heart of the city’s political divide.
The vote comes as China takes a tough line against any challenges to its sovereignty, with high-profile young candidate Agnes Chow barred from standing because her party promotes self-determination for the semi-autonomous city.
The atmosphere was tense early Sunday when a small group of people heckled Chow as well as leading pro-democracy activists Joshua Wong and Nathan Law near a polling station, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.
One of the men barged into Wong, who was one of the student leaders during mass demonstrations in 2014 calling for a greater democratic freedoms.
“When there is a restriction on freedom of speech and we face more suppression on civil disobedience and protest in the streets, it proves that it’s more necessary for us to vote,” Wong told reporters.
Beijing has become increasingly incensed at the emergence of activists advocating independence and sees calls for self-determination as part of a dangerous splittist push.
The by-election was triggered after Beijing forced the disqualification of six rebel lawmakers who had swept to victory in citywide elections in 2016.
Some were former protest leaders, others openly advocated independence. All were ousted from their posts for inserting protests into their oaths of office.
Four of the six vacant seats are being contested Sunday.
“The election is not just about selecting me as a candidate, it is also about voting for justice,” said Au Nok-hin, who stepped in to contest the Hong Kong Island seat after Agnes Chow was disallowed.
The seat was originally held by Law, also a 2014 protest leader, who was among the six thrown out of office.
But pro-establishment politician Judy Chan, standing against Au, cast the opposition as provoking “violence and resistance.”
“The by-election is a chance for the silent majority, who are tired of a politicized Hong Kong, who detest those who humiliate the country, to come out and tell those politicians that Hong Kong has no room for them,” Chan told AFP.
Many of the first people to cast ballots at a polling station AFP visited early Sunday were more elderly and supportive of the city’s pro-Beijing establishment.
“I’m not resistant to democracy and freedom, but I can’t accept the independence of Hong Kong,” voter Chan Chik-sing, 60, told AFP.
Others said China needed to recognize people were angry about inequality.
“If the government’s policies were really that good and supported by citizens, the public’s satisfaction level for the government wouldn’t keep deteriorating,” said voter Lilian Leung, who was in her late 30s.
The six lawmakers were retrospectively barred from office by Hong Kong’s high court after Beijing issued a special “interpretation” of the city’s mini-constitution stipulating legislators had to take their oath “solemnly and sincerely” or face being banned.
Pro-independence lawmakers had inserted expletives and waved “Hong Kong is not China” banners during their swearing in. Others added phrases supporting the democracy movement.
The pro-democracy camp has come up against increasing pressure since the failure of the Umbrella Movement to win political reform, with some leading activists jailed on protest-related charges.
Political analyst Dixon Sing says losing any one of the four by-election seats would be a further blow.
“It would only add to the disappointment and the loss of faith,” he told AFP.
But Sing added that even an across-the-board win would be countered by a system fundamentally weighted toward Beijing.
Only half the legislature is elected, with the rest selected by traditionally pro-establishment interest groups.
Of 70 seats, the democracy camp currently holds 24, only just clinging on to the one-third needed to veto important bills.
It has also been curbed by new rules against filibustering, long a favored tactic.
Nevertheless, veteran democrats are urging residents to go out and vote.
“It is not just a by-election,” said pro-democracy lawmaker Claudia Missouri
“It’s a fight between good and evil.”
Hong Kong goes to polls in crunch test for democrats
Hong Kong goes to polls in crunch test for democrats
Drunk driver gets 24 years to life in prison for killing 4 people at July 4 barbecue in NYC park
- Judge April A. Newbauer sentenced Hyden on Friday to 24 years to life in prison
- The crash happened less than an hour after Hyden was refused entry to a nearby party boat and clashed with security
NEW YORK: Halena Herrera can’t cross a street without thinking about the pickup truck that barreled toward her, killing her best friend and three other people, at a New York City park two Fourth of Julys ago.
Daniel Hyden was drunk at the wheel as the Ford F-150 jumped a curb, bulldozed a chain-link fence and plowed into a group of friends and relatives who were holding a holiday barbecue at Corlears Hook Park in Manhattan. The truck stopped just feet from Herrera, its momentum halted by bodies trapped underneath.
Judge April A. Newbauer sentenced Hyden on Friday to 24 years to life in prison in the deaths of Ana Morel, 43; Lucille Pinkney, 59; her son, Herman Pinkney, 38; and Herrera’s best friend, Emily Ruiz, 30.
Seven people were hurt, including Herrera, who was hit in the face by debris.
“Learning that the only reason I lived was because four other people were dying under the car is still very hard to deal with,” Herrera told reporters after Hyden’s sentencing in state court in Manhattan.
“I’m glad that at least now there’s some sense of justice,” she said. “It doesn’t help much. It doesn’t bring anything back, but it’s good to have it over with, so I’m happy for that.”
Diamond Pinkney, Lucille’s son and Herman’s brother, said seeing Hyden sentenced was a “big relief.” The driver, a substance abuse counselor who wrote a 2020 book about coping with addiction, “knew what he did, he knew the possibility he could’ve caused and he did it,” Pinkney said.
Hyden, 46, from Monmouth, New Jersey, described it as an “accident” in his courtroom apology. He was convicted in November at a non-jury trial of murder, aggravated vehicular homicide and other charges.
“I’m processing how deeply disturbed and deeply hurt I was and still am. And I’m still processing the amount of people I hurt with my actions,” he said, standing in a room packed with victims, relatives of the people he killed and about two-dozen officers.
Hyden said he had broken his sobriety after his own sister was killed by a drunk driver in New Jersey in 2021. At the time of his crash in July 2024, he was preparing to speak at that driver’s sentencing, he said.
“What kind of human being would put other human beings through the same thing he was going through?” Hyden asked.
Herrera scoffed at Hyden’s newfound shame, telling reporters afterward: “He has shown no remorse from the very beginning, so for him to sit there and say that he’s sorry is just — I don’t believe any of it.”
The crash happened less than an hour after Hyden was refused entry to a nearby party boat and clashed with security. Police officers who responded to the boat incident testified that they didn’t witness anything warranting arrest, so they walked Hyden to a park bench and left.
He then got behind the wheel of the pickup truck, prosecutors said, accelerating through a stop sign at 39 mph (63 kph), speeding through a construction zone and zooming over sidewalk at up to 54 mph (87 kph) before reaching the park.
Hyden was pressing the gas pedal down fully and didn’t hit the brakes until half a second before he hit the crowd, prosecutors said. He then tried to put the vehicle in reverse, but witnesses pulled the keys from the ignition to stop him.
Hyden’s lawyer suggested he had a foot injury that complicated his driving.
“While this prison sentence will not reverse the fatalities, injuries, and trauma, I hope this sentencing brings a measure of comfort for those who were impacted by this mass casualty event,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement. “If you are intoxicated, do not get behind the wheel — it risks the lives of others, and you will be prosecuted.”
Herrera and Pinkney both said they want Hyden to remain in prison for the rest of his life so he does not have a chance to hurt anyone else.
Herrera, who is studying to be a therapist, said she has had bouts of depression and struggles with post-traumatic stress — the horror of that night infecting her daily activities. But, she said, she has to stay strong for her 7-year-old son.
“Every day, I’m worried that something else can happen,” Herrera said. “You know of it — you know that death happens, you know that accidents happen and things happen. But to live it is a different thing.”
“So, now it’s like: Am I going to get hit by a car crossing the street? Is something going to happen to me?”
