Dear Hong Kongers,
 
There are now more than 1.2 million confirmed cases of coronavirus in the world. The situation is indeed extremely worrying, with experts warning that Hong Kong might soon face a third wave of infections. While we need to closely monitor the epidemic in Hong Kong and the world, we must not lose focus of the abuse of power by the police that was in the spotlight before the outbreak.  With the epidemic worsening day by day and the government imposing stricter measures for public health reasons, I have reasons to worry these measures, which have given the police more powers, will be abused.
 
Soon after the government announced they were limiting public gatherings to four and that restaurants could only have tables placed at least 1.5 metres apart, restaurants that had voiced support for the Anti-Extradition Bill movement were repeatedly inspected in an unreasonable manner. The restaurant owned by the son of Jimmy Lai, Apple Daily’s founder, was repeatedly inspected by more than 10 police officers in the space of a few days. The restaurant’s entrance was blocked each time while police officers took their time to measure the distances between the tables and also demanded that each customer produce his or her ID card, which each time severely disrupted the restaurant’s business. Obviously, the police have used the powers given to them in the name of safeguarding public health to specifically target restaurants whose owners in the past had condemned police brutality.
 
Elsewhere, on the night of 31st March, a small crowd was gathering peacefully outside the Prince Edward MTR station, a practice that occurs every month to call for the full revelation of what happened inside the station on that day last year.  Fellow Democratic Party member, Poming Chan, was at the scene, standing alone, when he was singled out by the Police for a search.  Four other persons, who were strangers to Chan were also searched. Then the police accused Chan of participating in a gathering of more than 4 people which violated the public health control measure.  This is absurd, the police were clearly abusing their new powers.
 
Besides, arbitrary arrests did not stop during the virus outbreak.  Chairman of the Yuen Long District Council and fellow Democratic Party member, Zachary Wong, was arrested on 21st March while he was fulfilling his District Councillor’s duty of monitoring police’s actions at the scene of protest in Yuen Long. The police officers had completely disregarded his role and duty and arrested him on the pretext that he was obstructing the police in the execution of their lawful duties. In addition, Chairwoman of Central and Western District Council and fellow Democratic Party member, Cheng Lai King, was arrested recently for sharing a Facebook post.  She was only trying to find out the identity of the police officer who was responsible for shooting the Indonesian journalist in the eye because the police had repeatedly refused to disclose the officer’s identity. The post seemed to contain information about the police officer, yet she was arrested for acting “with a seditious intention,” an offence rarely used since it was enacted during the colonial era. 
 
Even worse, cases with weak evidence to support the charges have managed to make their way to court due to police’s insistence. A 24-year-old person refused to accept a package containing weapons that a plain clothes police officer tried to give to him, but the police still decided to charge him for possession of an offensive weapon with intent. The case was eventually dropped when the case came to court because the prosecutors considered that the evidence was insufficient. This left the judge and the public to wonder why such a weak case would be brought to court in the first place.
 
In the face of such arbitrary arrests and allegations of excessive violence, the police have repeatedly denied, trivialized, procrastinated, and lied during the past 10 months. They denied kicking a man in a yellow shirt in an alleyway, claiming that the video of that attack only showed officers kicking a “yellow object.”  They trivialized evidence of police officers repeatedly hitting unarmed protesters in the head and other parts of the body, which resulted in bone fractures, claiming that officers were merely using “the minimum level of force.” They also repeatedly used the Complaints against Police Office, CAPO, to procrastinate the handling of reported misconduct cases of police officers, when the public is fully aware that CAPO is biased, as it is a unit within the police force. The police have also lied about the Yuen Long Attack on 21st July last year. They lied about not having enough manpower, in an attempt to try to cover up the fact that they deliberately condoned triads to viciously attack members of the public with weapons inside Yuen Long station.
 
Obviously, the checks and balances on the police force are failing miserably. First, CAPO is supposed to be monitored by the Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC), but the membership of the IPCC enjoys a pro-establishment majority. Second, the District Council and the Legislative Council are now half paralyzed because meetings cannot be held during the epidemic and the police completely disregard the monitoring roles of the members of both Councils. Last but not least, Carrie Lam is still fully supportive of the police force, the existing complaint mechanism and she has even asked the public for understanding and tolerance over the police’s malpractice. Nevertheless, the general public can clearly see and feel the force’s decline, which explains why according to the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute, people’s satisfaction with the performance of the police dropped to a new low last year.
 
It is for this reason that I urge you all not to divert your attention from police brutality and police abuse of power. We need to speak up in the face of injustice and turn things around.  Establishing an independent Commission of Inquiry is the only way to identify the wrongdoings of individuals and hold them accountable for their misconduct. More importantly, it is the only way to also identify the structural faults in our current system so that we can prevent similar cases from happening in the future.  
 
Police’s performance during these 10 months has been a serious cause for concern; it is also one of the main reasons behind the current conflicts and unrest in society. We must not turn a blind eye towards their corrupt practice and brutality. In the words of former UK Supreme Court Justice Lord Sumption, “policemen are citizens in uniform, they are not members of a disciplined hierarchy operating just at the government’s command.” According to the British historian, Lord Acton, all “power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” This is why there is an urgent and desperate need of functional external checks and balances on Hong Kong police.
 
Lastly, I also strongly demand all police officers to remember the oath, that they did swear to execute the powers and duties of their office “honestly, faithfully, and diligently without fear of or favour to any person and with malice or ill-will toward none.” Further, they should always remember that they are first and foremost serving the public.  Last, I sincerely hope that the epidemic, police brutality, and social injustice can all end soon, so that our society will be able to achieve justice, fairness and become truly harmonious in the near future. I believe this is the dream of all Hong Kong people.
 
I hereby wish all of you good health and good luck to Hong Kong.