After prison, academic’s university hearing a ‘test case’

The release on bail from jail of a prominent pro-democracy scholar in Hong Kong could be a test case for dwindling academic freedom in Hong Kong as university disciplinary hearings loom, academics have said.

Benny Tai, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong or HKU, who was the co-founder of Occupy Central – the pro-democracy movement, also widely known as the Umbrella Movement, that brought Hong Kong to a standstill in 2014 – was released from jail on Thursday 15 August with bail conditions that include not being able to travel outside Hong Kong.

Tai was sentenced to 16 months in April this year, one of nine pro-democracy activists from the 2014 movement to be jailed. He has been freed pending an appeal hearing which is scheduled for February 2020.

His release comes amid escalating protests in Hong Kong, which began 10 weeks ago over a proposed bill to extradite criminals to mainland China.

Many are closely watching how Tai’s case will be now handled by the administration at HKU.

Terence Halliday, research professor at the American Bar Foundation – an interdisciplinary institute of advanced studies in Chicago – and an honorary professor at Australian National University, said Tai’s release was a “small window of hope in an increasingly dark situation”.

Tai’s conviction in April “was seen by some observers as a response in some degree to political pressure and wasn’t purely a decision on the legal merits. Today’s decision [to release Tai] suggests that some measure of the autonomy of the judiciary in Hong Kong survives,” Halliday said on Thursday.

Tai’s release on bail “is good news”, agreed Eva Pils, professor of law at King’s College London and one of the organisers of an open letter on the Tai case to HKU President Xiang Zhang, signed by almost 400 international legal scholars. “But what we are working on is how it will affect his position as an academic at HKU.”

Pro-Beijing factions in Hong Kong have called for Tai to be stripped of his university post for his role in the Occupy Central protests.

University disciplinary hearing

The disciplinary process at HKU, completely separate from the ongoing judicial process, has reportedly already started, with the appointment of a special disciplinary panel in June, even though Tai is currently appealing his conviction and sentence in Hong Kong’s courts.

“It’s a critical question; why is the university moving so quickly to set up a disciplinary committee when the criminal procedures, and outcome, are still uncertain? If it turns out that Benny Tai is found innocent, how can the university proceed against him?” Halliday wondered.

“The disciplinary hearing will be a major test case for HKU’s institutional autonomy and for academic freedom,” noted Pils. “Whether Benny Tai gets dismissed from the university, or even if he gets some minor disciplinary punishment for his involvement [in the 2014 protests], it will be extremely concerning for university autonomy and academic freedom in Hong Kong.

“Already in 2014 you could feel that the academic climate was tightening in Hong Kong and with all that has happened since – there is even more self-censorship [on campuses] so this is an important case,” added Pils, referring to the ongoing protests in Hong Kong in which Tai has not been involved.

“Now there is even more anxiety about hosting events on particular topics [on campuses] and there are reports of more bureaucratic harassment about speaking out on certain topics.”

“The concern is that outspoken engagement by scholars on the political process in Hong Kong could be seen as ‘discipline’ violations” – although what would be considered a violation is far from clear, she said. “Much will depend on the outcome of any apparent disciplinary process such as Benny Tai’s. It will be even more important now for HKU to show its autonomy from political pressure.”

University response

A spokesperson for Hong Kong University said: “The university fully recognises that teachers have good cause protection regarding their appointments, and we have every intention to uphold obligations and duties in such matters.

“In light of the court's verdict and sentence in Mr Benny Tai's case, the university is following up in accordance with the procedures stipulated in the University of Hong Kong Ordinance and Rules and Regulations.”

The spokesperson continued: “The university handles staff matters in a stringent and impartial manner in accordance with its due procedures. In view of the confidentiality of personal information involved and the need to ensure the integrity of the process, the university will not make further comments concerning the case.”

Open letter to HKU

In the open letter to HKU Vice-Chancellor Xiang Zhang, signed by some 400 legal scholars internationally and made public on 12 August – a few days before Tai’s bail hearing – academics cautioned against “politically motivated dismissal or other disciplinary measures” against Tai.

“Attempts to further punish Professor Tai for his peaceful efforts to promote democratic values in Hong Kong represent a distressing threat to values that are fundamental to higher education, including freedom of expression, academic freedom, and institutional autonomy,” the letter said.

“As one of Hong Kong’s most important centres of free thought and inquiry, HKU has long supported the values civil disobedience seeks to defend and promote. Any move to dismiss an academic as a result of a conviction arising from peaceful advocacy could cause irreparable harm to the stature of the university as a champion of independent thought.”

Within the university, the Tai case “is a test case for the University of Hong Kong and all universities in Hong Kong”, Halliday, one of the co-organisers of the letter, told University World News.

“HKU is one of the great universities of East Asia and the big question then becomes whether HKU is going to sink into the mire, like China’s leading universities where the Chinese Communist Party’s stifling control has diminished them as independent centres of thought and inquiry,” Halliday said.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if a larger political strategy was to try and marginalise HKU; on the other hand, a great university like this has a certain amount of resilience. It has a tradition of independence, it has distinguished alumni and so I suspect it will not go down without a struggle,” said Halliday, referring to concerns that HKU would be somehow punished for allowing campus dissent.

Beijing and increasingly Hong Kong seeks “to chop off the head of the tall poppies in order to discourage others and instil fear”, Halliday noted. However, this did not work on the mainland, with notable activists tolerating greater and greater levels of fear, while in Hong Kong “fear doesn’t keep people off the streets, teargas doesn’t keep people at home and students are among the most outspoken of activists”.

“I would be very surprised if a [HKU] disciplinary hearing had any effect on students, even though that may be its intent. It may have some effect on faculty, but I am sure there are other bold and courageous faculty at HKU with equal strength of conviction as Benny Tai.”

Tai support for current protests

Now released, it is unclear what role Tai will play in the current protests, although some protesters hope that he can emerge as a leader of the leaderless current movement. Many have noted that talks with the Hong Kong leadership are impossible while there is no leader.

However, it is clear that Tai supports non-violent protests. A week before his release, Tai was transferred to solitary confinement after he joined a general strike in prison, rejecting the work assigned to him by prison authorities.

Tai, who was greeted by a crowd of supporters on his release, said he would not comment on the violence of the ongoing anti-government protesters. But he said: “Even though I was separated from the others by the walls of the prison, I can still see many Hong Kong people who have sacrificed selflessly to defend the core values of Hong Kong. And in many moments, I was very touched by what they have done.

“I am very proud that I can stand with them together at this very moment in Hong Kong. With so many Hong Kong people who love Hong Kong so much, even though the road ahead is very unclear, and will be very difficult and will be tough, I still have confidence that the future of Hong Kong must be bright.”

Some 748 people have been arrested during the past 10 weeks of protests, police said on Thursday – more than 700 of them in the past week.