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鄒幸彤:法庭陳詞

作者:

支聯會不交資料案口頭陳情前,幸彤也準備了書面陳情,中英文版對照如下。

法庭雖然判處我們有罪,但其實這場審訊已經證明了我們的清白。

我們清楚看到,所謂外國代理人的指控根本就是莫須有。我們清楚看到,原來國安把說出真相、要求問責、追求民主、捍衛人權,都視作危害國家安全。我們清楚看到,以國安法之名所作的所謂刑事調查,原來是沒有追溯時限的歷史清算。

如果我們當時默許了國安的標籤和裁斷,乖乖遵從對「外國代理人」的所有無理要求,這一切就不會有機會大白於天下。

這個案件表面上只是一宗關於資料的案件,而事實上,資料或曰訊息亦正是這個案件,甚至是國安法時代的核心問題。

政府說,以國家安全之名,它有權要求公民交出各種資料。同樣地,以國家安全之名,它做什麼決定都不用跟你解釋。

當人民在權力面前變得愈來愈透明,但權力卻在人民面前變得愈來愈不透明的時候,人民就不再是國家的主人,而是國家的奴隸。而「國家安全」亦只會成為掩飾這種奴役的藉口。

訊息就是力量。這點當權者是最清楚的。所以他們要不惜一切地掩埋六四真相,要秘密地完成國安法的立法,要千方百計地阻止我們知道和公開他們對支聯會的荒謬指控。正如這場審訊,雖然是在公開法庭所進行,但是以「公共利益」為名,最關鍵的信息要不被遮蔽,要不只能以打啞謎的方式去呈現,實際上連閣下都無法一窺案件的全貌。就算公眾可以旁聽,記者可以報導,大家也看不到什麼,所謂「公開」變得徒有形式。

黑暗是滋生濫權和恐懼的溫床。在本案中,真正關乎公共利益的訊息,並不是支聯會這麼多年做過些什麼事,而是公權力在以國家安全之名做些什麼。真正應該「交出」的資料,是國安行事的準則和理據,是他們憑什麼可以將一個植根本地30多年的組織,一夕之間打成是外國的和違法的。

可悲的是,在這個權力失衡的體制下,政府要拿公民的資料,發一封信就可以,但公民想要得到一個交代,卻必須去抗爭,去冒着牢獄的風險,而拿到的可能也很有限。但是,這是是值得的,也是必要的。如果透過這場審訊得到的訊息能多少縛住權力的手,令它沒有那麼肆無忌憚,那個人的牢獄並不算是什麼。

況且,我們如若順從,那外國勢力的標籤就再也脫不下了,香港人30多年的堅持,就會因為我們的退讓,變成了名不正言不順的外部陰謀,變了不再是屬於我們自己的運動。我們退無可退,我們必須如此。

我們必須以最響亮的話語,最清晰的行動,和當權者,也和全世界說,平反六四,結束專政,從來就是這片土地上的人自己的要求,不是因為什麼煽動、什麼誤導、什麼外部勢力,而是出於每個人都有的良知和尊嚴。

維園的如海燭光,之所以震撼,之所以難能可貴,並不只是因為那個集體的畫面,而是因為每一點燭光的後面都有一個獨立自主的人,是因為這片燭光是任何權力都操縱不出來的。

因為國安說我們30多年的燭光集會都是危害國家安全的罪證,我這陣子重溫了不少集會的片段。我看着燭光背後的一對對眼睛——滄桑的、年輕的、含淚的、堅定的、善良的、普通的、獨特的、真誠的——我就知道,我永遠不可能背棄這些目光。順從或認罪,代表的從來不只是我們自己,而是這千萬對眼睛。他們都不是無知無覺的棋子,我亦無權代他們承認這種侮辱。

否認我們是外國代理人,並不是要和外國割席。恰恰相反,正是因為我們想要和國際社會維持正常、自由的交往,我們才更要否定這種標籤,並拆解它背後種種不合理的假設和謬誤。

只有一個極權、一元的國家,才會將所有政治組織等同為國家利益的代表,才會將政治等同權勢和陰謀。他們無法理解,政治可以、更應該是道德的。政治只不過是人們想活得更好的努力,它真正要回應的,是人性的需求,普世的價值,無論是古人所說的仁義,還是今人強調的人權和自主。

人性無分國界,價值高於國籍。追求人權和民主的運動,本就應當是超越國家界線的運動,尤其當國家本身就是壓迫的來源。在國際舞台上,民間有權發出與當權者不同的聲音,有權和不同的公民、政治組織去來往、合作而不被視作敵人或罪犯。我亦希望全世界愛好自由的人能繼續與我們同行,不要中了極權的話術,為了避免代理人這個標籤,反使得在地的抗爭者被孤立。

況且,對這個國家的人民最大的威脅,從來就不是來自於什麼外國干預,而是來自於內部,來自於不受制約的國家權力——六四就是最好的例子。與其千方百計地提防什麼外國代理人,我們更應該提防的是自封人民代理的當權者。

作為紮根香港的公民社會的一分子,我們沒責任依從規管外國代理人的法律行事,卻有責任制止濫權、守護尊嚴、捍衛自由,我們盡了該盡的責任,我們自豪,我們無悔。

面對國安與控方的生安白造,隱瞞閃躲,我們一直持守的不過是立足事實,捍衛尊嚴。若然法庭認同前者是而後者非,那就判處本人最重的刑罰。

英文原文

Although the Court has ruled us guilty, the trial has already proved our innocence.

We know as a matter of fact that we are not foreign agents. Throughout the trial we were also able to see how the police’s accusation was utterly baseless. We saw clearly how speaking the truth, seeking accountability and defending human rights were all acts endangering national security in the police’s books. We saw clearly how the so-called criminal investigation was in fact an inquisition of legitimate speech and actions that stretched back to ages past, back to well before the enforcement of the National Security Law(NSL), even back to before Hong Kong’s handover.

If we have acquiesced to the wrongful labelling of ourselves as foreign agents, and quietly submitted to the unreasonable demands of the national security police, then what had been revealed through the trial would have been forever kept in the dark.

On the surface this is but a technical case of non-compliance with an information request. Yet such apparent simplicity belies the importance of information to the new era heralded by the NSL.

The government says that in the name of national security, it can have almost unlimited power to demand all sorts of information from a citizen. Further, in the name of national security, it needs not even explain the basis of the demand.

When the people become ever more transparent before the government, yet the government becomes ever more opaque before the people, then the people risk turning from the master of the government into its slaves. And the so-called「national security」 would just become another perfect pretext to make such slavery.

Information is power and those in power know that well. This is why they have to bury the truth of the Tiananmen Massacre. This is why they have to complete the legislation of the NSL in secret. This is why they have tried all they can to stop us from knowing and exposing their absurd allegation against the Hong Kong Alliance. This trial itself is the best example of such tactic– although it was conducted in an open court, but in the name of「public interest」, all the key information was redacted or could only be referred to in a roundabout manner. Not even Your Worship could have a full grasp of the relevant facts. Even if the public was free to attend and journalists free to report, nothing of substance could be seen or said. Open justice degrades to a mere formality.

Darkness is the surest breeding ground for abuse and fear. The key information that has been missing in this stage is not what the Alliance had done over its long and public existence, what the authorities were and are still doing in the name of national security. The information that should have been handed over is the basis and criteria of the police determination, a proper explanation of how they could relegate a well respected local organisation to the rank of being foreign and criminal all of a sudden.

Sadly with the current imbalance of power between the people and the government, it is much harder to obtain information from the government than the other way around. When the government wants information from a citizen, all it needs to do is to issue a letter. If the citizen wants some explanation in return, he or she must risk becoming a criminal in fighting back. Yet this is both necessary and worth doing. If the information thus obtained can check the worsening abuse of power somewhat, then imprisonment is a price we gladly pay.

Furthermore, if we had complied with the national security police’s order, the label of「foreign agent」 would have stuck with us forever. The perseverance of the Hong Kong people for over three decades would turn into a sinister foreign plot and thus, becoming something that is no longer our own. This is unacceptable. We could not back down.

We must, with the most unambiguous response, proclaim to the authorities and the world that seeking justice for the Tiananmen Massacre and ending one party dictatorship are all along the demands of the people living here on this land. They are not the result of so-called incitement or foreign interference but stemmed from the value of conscience and dignity inherent in each of us.

The sea of candlelights in Victoria Park was impressive not because of the grandeur of the imagery, but because there was an autonomous inpidual behind each flickering flame. It is not a scene that could be produced by any machination of state power, foreign or local.

Since the national security police claimed that our30 years of candlelight vigil are evidence of our criminality, I have spent much time rewatching videos of those events recently. I looked into the eyes behind those tiny flames– some wizened, some youthful, some teary, some shone with resolve, others with kindness; all so ordinary yet unique and above all sincere– and I know there and then I can never betray those eyes. Our plea or compliance has never been a decision that concerns only ourselves; but represents those thousands and thousands pairs of eyes. None of them is a mindless tool of foreign forces, nor do I have the right to submit to such indignity on their behalf.

Denying that we are foreign agents is not about cutting foreign ties. On the contrary, precisely because we wish to defend our freedom to interact with the international community, we must speak up against such loaded labelling and debunk the false assumptions behind it.

The criminal framework targeting so-called foreign agents reflects a worldview that regards all political organisations as the extension of an unified state, which must necessarily align with the interest of a state. It reflects a tendency to equate politics with treachery and power struggle. This is the totalitarian mindset which we reject. Politics can and should be normal. Politics is but people’s attempt to build a good life. It can and should be a response to every human’s urge to be kind and just, to be social yet autonomous, and to live a life true to the values we hold dear.

Human nature transcends national borders and values are above nationality. The movement for human rights and democracy is by nature a movement that stands above national boundaries, especially when the state itself is often the source of oppression. In the international arena, members of the civil society have the right to express narratives alternative to the state’s, and to connect and cooperate with different civil and political organisations from around the world, without being classified as enemies or criminals. I also hope that freedom-loving people from around the world can continue to stand with us, and not fall into the trap of isolating those on the ground in a counterproductive attempt to「protect」 us from the false charge of being a「foreign agent」.

In fact the biggest threat to the people of the country has always been from within, not without. It is the domestic, unrestricted power that killed the most– as demonstrated by Tiananmen and countless historical tragedies. Rather than hyping up the illusionary threat of「foreign agents」, what we should guard against is instead those self-appointed leaders who claim to rule in our name.

As proud members of the Hong Kong civil society, we have no obligation to obey the law regulating foreign agents. But we have the duty to call out abuses of power, and to defend our common freedom and dignity. We have done our part, and have no regrets.

Your Worship, truth speaks for itself. To rule us guilty under the factual circumstances of the case does not take away the Hong Kong Alliance’s legitimacy, but the law’s legitimacy. Henceforth, we know how hollow and out of touch with reality the police allegation of「foreign agent」 can be. In turn, this label has lost all ability to convince and degrade. This is our victory, regardless what sentence this court may impose.

As opposed to making false allegations and being secretive, all we have been insisting on is to defend our dignity based on truth and openness. If the Court considers the former right and the latter wrong, then please do sentence me to the heaviest sentence.

責任編輯: 李廣松   轉載請註明作者、出處並保持完整。

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