AP: Falun Gong Followers Appeal Charges

Swiss Falun Gong member Eric Bachmann, right, speaks as he and other [practitioners] hold placards outside a court in Hong Kong Thursday, August 15, 2002 after sixteen Falun Gong followers were convicted of causing an obstruction during a protest outside the Chinese government's liaison office earlier this year. It was the first time Hong Kong had brought criminal charges against members of Falun Gong [which] remains legal in this former British colony. Next to Bachmann, 2nd right, is another of the four Swiss nationals on trial Lam Duy-quoc.(AP Photo/Anat Givon)

HONG KONG (AP): 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.

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. [..]

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 [..] often protest against Beijing's suppression of the group, which remains legal in Hong Kong.

"The prosecution case at its highest does not justify conviction in the circumstances of the case," Kan read out from a court document. [..]

The convicted Falun Gong followers include four Swiss and one New Zealand resident.