HONG KONG - Sixteen Falun Gong followers found guilty of public obstruction for protesting against China have filed an appeal against their convictions, a local spokesman for the meditation group said Sunday.
Falun Gong spokesman Kan Hung-cheung said they lodged an appeal with the courts on Saturday against a magistrate's ruling Thursday. Kan called the ruling groundless, and said: "The court only based its judgment on evidence from the prosecution."
Magistrate Symon Wong convicted the practitioners of causing an obstruction outside the Chinese government liaison office here during a March 14 protest and fined them between U.S. dlrs 167 and 487.
He did not jail anyone, although some of the defendants were found guilty of more serious offenses including obstructing and assaulting the police.
Meanwhile Sunday, a dozen pro-democracy demonstrators braved torrential rain and marched to a side gate of government headquarters to protest the Falun Gong convictions.
"Shame on the government for clamping down on Falun Gong, shame on the government for suppressing dissent," the protesters chanted as they were stopped by police outside the gate.
They accused the government of suppressing demonstrations through "dirty tactics" such as prosecuting protesters with laws intended to stop illegal street peddlers from blocking Hong Kong's sidewalks.
"They use such minor offenses to cover up their political prosecution," said veteran activist "Longhair" Leung Kwok-hung. "It's a clear attempt to clamp down on freedom of expression." The protesters dispersed peacefully after the march.
Falun Gong members say the convictions are a sign that China is exporting mainland-style suppression to this former British colony. Although Hong Kong reverted to Chinese rule five years ago, it retains many Western-style liberties such as freedom of speech.
Local followers of Falun Gong, which is outlawed on the mainland as an "evil cult," often protest against Beijing's suppression of the group, which remains legal in Hong Kong.
The court writ filed on Saturday said "conviction is against the weight of the evidence," according to Kan.
Hong Kong officials and magistrate Wong, who delivered the verdicts, insisted that the case had nothing to do with the practice of Falun Gong meditation.
The convicted Falun Gong followers include four Swiss and one New Zealand resident.