(Hong Kong) Hong Kong Reverend Garry Pang Moon-yuen, who was arrested in April of this year, was convicted in October of one or more acts of sedition because of his previous production of videos. He has now been released after serving his sentence and recorded two short videos to let the public know he is safe and released a poem bidding farewell to prison.
On December 8, Rev. Garry Pang Moon-yuen released a short video on his YouTube channel, “Pastor Rocks with You,” in which Pang Moon-yuen was bursting with energy, wearing a black suit and a blue shirt; he expressed to the public, “I am so grateful. I have left ‘school’ today!” he then proclaimed: “Brilliant colors, eat a piece of chocolate! Brilliant colors, Hong Kongers will overcome obstacles! Brilliant colors; have faith in God’s infallibility! Brilliant colors, love never fails!”
He ended by saying, “persistence is victory,” emphasizing that “this time we are victorious, we must safeguard conscience and justice,” and thanked everyone for their concern. “May God be with you, may God bless you and we will meet again someday.”
On December 9th, Rev. Pang released a poem on his YouTube channel to bid farewell to the prison. The poem was written on December 5, and it mentions: “He takes off the brown clothes on him, holds a large transparent plastic bag in both hands, and moves forward bravely.” The poem concluded by mentioning, “this is a triumphant farewell. He safeguarded justice and conscience, breathed the air of freedom again.” And at the end, the central theme of the poem is to bid farewell to the prison bars and high walls and to bid farewell to life as a prison nomad.
This was the first case in Hong Kong where an observer was convicted for his conduct in court. 59-year-old Rev. Garry Pang Moon-yuen denied crimes of “uttering seditious words” and committing “acts with a seditious intention” but was convicted by Magistrate Andy Cheng Lim-chi. During the interrogation, he was not represented by a lawyer and made his statement. He had been in custody since April, and authorities rejected all eight applications for bail.
Co-defendant Chiu Mei-ying (67 years old) was convicted of “uttering seditious words” and was sentenced to 3 months in prison. She has been granted bail and is pending an appeal.
Rev. Garry Pang Moon-yuen had said before that although he was convicted, on the surface, it may seem that the prosecution had won. However, from the perspective of safeguarding conscience and defending human rights and the rule of law, he won. He emphasized that “history will declare me innocent.”
Rev. Garry Pang Moon-yuen’s full poem:
Farewell
Today, he will bid you farewell.
In this romantic and romantic bay.
He met with you.
Watch that brilliant and dazzling sunrise,
listen to the sound of the lingering tide,
look up at the starry night sky.
However, he is bidding you farewell today,
he takes off the brown clothing on him,
holds onto big transparent plastic bags and moves forward bravely.
This is a decisive farewell.
He will no longer be reluctant to leave you,
he has finally been fully liberated.
This is a triumphant farewell.
He safeguarded justice and conscience,
breathes the air of freedom again.
Today, he will bid you farewell.
That was a relational farewell,
this time, it is a farewell to identity.
He wants to bid farewell to the white bay,
bid farewell to the iron bars and high walls,
bid farewell to life as a prison nomad.
~Gao Zhensai, Special Correspondent of ChinaAid
