On Bondage, Liberty and Justice

As a rule, I publish every comment, few as they are that I receive on this blog without regard to weather it is supportive or oppositional to my point of view. If warranted I will reply and enjoy people's comments. There are really only two exceptions to this rule. I don’t generally publish comments created by either Spambots or those which are commercial in nature. Comments should improve a post and those don’t. Second I don’t publish simple insults. You are free to call me “::::::::::::::::” I just don’t have to publish it.

The only other comments I have not posted, that I remember are some of the ones I received from my posts about Nancy Kissel. I’ve written about her quite a lot over the years and for some reason those post have been among the most widely read. If I use Google’s Analytics function it is clear, the post about Nancy Kissel get read far more often than anything else I write. My traffic on that day or the day after a Nancy post is much higher. I have even posted most of the comments I've received about those post. But, there have been comments and Emails from what I believe are family members of both Nancy Kissel and her late husband. I did not post those. They were simply too personal. However, I also steadfastly refuse to use Nancy Kissel’s name in a post to simply pull in traffic.

Well, Nancy was in the news again yesterday and today. In a surprise decision the Court of Final Appeal awarded her a new trial yesterday. I missed the news last night and didn’t see anything about this until quick recap at 10:00 PM right before CSI. Talk about a jaw dropper!

Let me start off be reiterating, Nancy Kissel murdered her husband. She is guilty as charged and in a society with a properly functioning justice system should be in jail for life and the reason this case just fascinates me is because I believe it showcases everything that is wrong with the justice system in Hong Kong. I believe that because of the incoherent or seemingly arbitrary way that judges set sentences Nancy Kissel should be simply freed. That doesn’t mean I think she is innocent.

Honestly, at this point I think her lawyers have a good argument that she cannot and possibly could never have received a fair trial in Hong Kong. There was just too much publicity surrounding the case. The court should have issued a gag order during the first trial. Once the details of this case started getting out, especially in the sensationalist Chinese language papers and the even more sensationalist SCMP any chance of an unbiased jury was gone.

THBT should cowboy up on this one and ask the shoe-shin brigade in Beijing to watch this trial closely. If Nancy is freed, even on a technicality, he should point one of his stubby fingers at them and say: “See, the government doesn’t have to always win. You need to take politics out of the legal system.” In China, Nancy Kissel would never have received a new trial. She’d have been dead 4.5 years ago. As flawed as the legal system is here, it is miles better than the one up North.

I have said, and I will continue to say that the greatest gift Hong Kong can give to China and the Chinese people is a first hand look at what a free society looks like. Freedom is more than not starving. Freedom is more than having money. The Chinese need to see what it means to have a government that abides by its own laws even when those laws cause embarrassment to the state. In recent years China has stressed the need for a harmonious society. That is bad idea. What China needs is a free society, a tolerant society, a society that allows dissent. The PRC does not need Hong Kong’s money, its expertise or experience. The PRC needs the freedom, no matter how imperfect Hong Kongers enjoy. In a harmonious society everybody agrees with each other. In a free society we respect each other and realize that other may differ with us. I'd rather live in a free society than a harmonious one.

Forget Tibet, free China!

If the new trial awarded to Nancy Kissel serves to help, even a little to get the gangsters who run the CCP to be answerable to their own laws it will be worth every cent spent. I’m sure Liu Xiabao would agree. China needs a justice system that isn’t controlled by the party and that is not answerable to the cadres. One like we have in Kong Kong, only better.

Until Next Time
Fai Mao
The Blogger who wanted to grow up and become a lawyer when he was little and didn't know any better