風化案匿名

資深大律師清洪(Cheng Huan, SC)今天在英文虎報撰文, 題為: Avoid tragedy with sex-claim anonymity, 文章評論近期的兩宗非禮案。一宗是審結脫罪的田徑教練非禮女學生, 老教練和女學生的名字都以英文字母作代替。另一宗是律政司刑事檢控科高級檢控官王永森在辦公室走廊非禮女同事, 共四項控罪。在案件押後期間被告跳樓自殺身亡。被告身亡, 案件終結, 外人不知案情, 我也不想再討論此案。清洪提倡在風化案裏, 除了受害人外, 被告也應匿名, 他覺得兩宗案件在匿名方面的對待不一。

In this instance, the unfortunate prosecutor was named and his photographs were spread all over the media.

Unlike "WH," he was not afforded the protection of anonymity and the publicity must have left him feeling deeply humiliated and embarrassed.

He felt so disgraced that he felt life was not worth living, and he committed suicide by jumping from the 37th floor of his apartment building in Mong Kok.

王永森之死, 不能說是因為本案被告身分沒有匿名而致, 王永森本身有精神問題多年, 本案只能說是激發他自殺的其中一個理由, 詳情要留待死因研訊去找答案。

清洪質疑:

How was it, I wondered, that one defendant was granted anonymity while the other was denied the privilege and named?

The answer is that such decisions rest within the discretion of the deceased prosecutor's colleagues in the Department of Justice because it is that very department that normally advises the court whether a defendant is entitled to anonymity.

There are guidelines within the department that are designed to ensure consistency, and as recently as last year even the Legislative Council discussed the issue of anonymity in sexual cases with special regard to cases involving mental disability.

對兩位被告的對待是否不一? 標少先向清洪告罪, 我絕不同意他的講法。老教練之所以匿名, 是為了保障女學生的身分(理由牽強), 就等如在上訴案中, 有時被告的名字以匿名代替, 譬如是父親性侵女兒, 若把父親的名字公開, 就會披露女兒作為受害人的身分了。故此, 檢控官非禮案的被告開名, 並不屬於這類, 所以並無違反律政司指引的一致性。不披露他的名字, 反而會惹來指責, 說是優待自己人。

男人當然最怕被指犯了風化案, 跟人打架、去偷去搶, 儼然是英雄好漢的行為, 去採花、欺負女性, 千古以來都被鄙視唾罵, 因此就要修改法例連同被告一起匿名了嗎? 其實就算只是干犯了店鋪盜竊的被告, 不少人都告訴我他們感到羞愧難當。過往面對不同控罪的人, 也有自殺身亡的, 並非限於風化案, 故此我並不同意風化案被告也一律匿名的建議。