Q and A

+ Q1: What is the aim of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund (hereafter “the Fund”)?

The Fund aims to provide financial relief for medical treatment, psychological counselling, legal advice and representation and related hardship to persons who are injured, arrested, attacked or threatened with violence during Anti-ELAB protests, including but not limited to the actions on 12th June.

+ Q2: What kind of expenses or assistance does the Fund cover?

We primarily provide financial assistance for legal, medical and psychological needs as detailed below:

i) Legal, including: (1) General legal advice and consultation

(2) Legal visit of arrested person

(3) Bail (payment of bail money on loan, bail application to the High Court)

(4) Post-bail(or denial of bail) legal consultation at the Fund’s scale of fee scheme up to end of the case or of the Fund, or the exhaustion of all funds allocated.

(5) Mention and plea in hearing before Magistrates’ courts

(6) Lawyers’ visit to prisons and detention centres

(7) Representation at trial

(8) Other special needs

The Fund encourages persons seeking assistance to make good use of the government legal aid services if they are eligible. For trial at District Court and High court, application for legal aid is necessary to ensure full protection. There are 1,000 barristers and 2,300 lawyers in the legal aid team to support the needs of the applicants.

ii) Medical treatment To cover reasonable medical expenses incurred as a result of injuries sustained during Anti-ELAB protests.

iii) Psychological counselling Persons emotionally distressed due to anti-ELAB protests often need to seek help from psychologists, counsellors or social workers for further assistance or counselling. The Fund will cover reasonable costs of such services.

+ Q3: Will applicants receive any support from the Fund after they apply for the government legal aid services?

The Fund will continue to provide the best support and assistance we can even if an applicant has successfully registered for legal aid. The Fund will provide “Legal Aid Contribution” required by the Legal Aid Department. The Fund will provide funding for legal representation for those who are refused legal aid and continue to support the arrested persons until the end of judicial proceedings or the exhaustion of all donation in the Fund. Before securing the legal aid services, the Fund will cover the legal costs incurred, such as bail, statement taking accompanied by a lawyer, house search accompanied by a lawyer, etc., at the rate of duty lawyer and/or legal aid services.

+ Q4: Can I enquire whether the Fund is supporting a particular case?

We are unable to disclose any information on the applicants and case details as we must respect an applicant’s privacy and will keep all personal information in strict confidence.

+ Q5: How many cases are you currently handling?

The Fund is currently providing direct assistance to 2,139 cases. As of 15th December, the Fund has provided assistance to 411 persons charged in court(including those remanded in prison), 1,289 arrested persons, 382 injured persons and 57 persons related.

We would like to appeal to those in need to contact us directly or through their lawyers. We will offer the best support we can.

+ Q6: On what grounds might the Fund delay or reject applicants?

The Fund applies uniformed principles and criteria in the handling of each application, regardless of an applicant’s background.

+ Q7: How much support does each legal case receive?

The Fund primarily supports the cost of litigations and related legal procedures until the end of judicial procedures or the exhaustion of the donation in the Fund. The Fund hopes to allocate resources fairly so that every person seeking help can get the legal support required, hence we decided to uniformly use the lawyer's fees set by the government Legal Aid Department as a benchmark for referencing lawyer’s fee payable for applicants. If the number of arrested persons increases and the arrestees intend to hire lawyers at higher fees, the applicants will have to foot the difference in fees.

+ Q8: Does the fund have its own team of lawyers?

The Fund does not have its own team of lawyers. However, we do work closely with pro-bono lawyers accessible through various legal support hotlines.

+ Q9: How many people are handling cases and enquiries at the Fund? Why does the Fund not hire extra manpower?

We have 19 employees who are handling applications tirelessly around the clock. Since substantial amount of personal data will be involved in handling cases and confidentiality is critical we are very careful in recruiting staff. Therefore, we would appreciate your understanding that the Fund will prioritise more urgent cases and enquiries.

+ Q10: Many frontline protestors reported a shortage of supplies and food recently. Will the fund provide any support?

This falls outside the object of the Fund as stated in Q1 and Q2 above. However we are pleased to note that many other funds and groups are addressing this need.

+ Q11: Is the use of the Fund regulated?

The five trustees of the Fund who oversee the operation and use of the Fund. The list of trustees is as follows: Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun SDB — Cardinal of Roman Catholic Church Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee— Practising barrister and former Legislative Councillor in Hong Kong Cyn Ho Sau-Lan— Former Legislative Councillor Denise Ho — Hong Kong singer Po-Keung Hui — Adjunct Associate Professor in Department of Cultural Studies at Lingnan University

+ Q12: How can I contact the Fund for assistance ?

Telephone：9845 6641 (Whatsapp / Telegram)

Email：[email protected]

Facebook Messenger： m.me/612Fund

Facebook Page： fb.com/612Fund

Telegram Channel： t.me/ReliefFund612_Update

+ Q13: How can I donate to the Fund？

a) Bank transfer ：

Please make a direct deposit to HSBC account number 652-255761-001 (we are using a dedicated account set up by Alliance for True Democracy Limited temporarily). Please note that the maximum for daily cash deposit through ATM is capped at HK $ 100,000. For any amount that exceeds the daily limit will not be processed.

b) Cheque deposit

Please make a cheque payable to Alliance for True Democracy Limited, and deposit at branch counter or ATM at HSBC, or mail it to 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund at 7/F, Chung Kiu Commercial Building, 51 Shantung Street, Mong Kok, Kowloon. Please write 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund at the back of the envelope and the cheque. The Fund does not accept any conditional donations. We will publicise any one-off donation that we received, named or anonymous, of more than HK $ 100,000.

+ Q14: How many people has the Fund supported so far?

As of 15th December, the Fund has provided legal fee assistance to 446 protestors, medical expense assistance to 732 cases, psychological counselling expense assistance to 103 cases and emergency financial relief to 1,894 cases. As of 15th December, it is estimated that 935 people have been charged. The Fund has reached out and provided support to 411 persons charged in court. As some of them may have sought support from other organizations, not all the cases receive support from the Fund. We take this opportunity to appeal to those in need to contact us directly or through their lawyers. We will offer the best support we can.

+ Q15: I heard that the applicant must appoint lawyers who are designated by the Fund. Is that true?

The Fund does not and will not designate any lawyer, so the applicant is free to choose his/her lawyer. However, as mentioned above, the Fund has a scale of payment which used the public fund scheme of Duty Lawyer Service and Legal Aid Department as a benchmark. If the lawyer appointed by the applicant charges more than the said rates, the applicant will have to bear the difference in fees based on the principle of fairness.

For details please see http://612fund.hk/legal

+ Q16: If the Fund has received millions of dollars in donations, why is the Fund so frugal in allocating resources and why does it ask people to apply for government legal aid?

As the number of people arrested is rapidly increasing and costs involved in legal proceedings can be very substantial. The Fund must look to the on going support for all of them. Depending on complexity, a case may last from several days to several weeks of trial, with costs from just over HK$200,000 to HK$2 Million. If no one applies for government legal aid but looks to the Fund to provide the costs, the existing funds would soon run out without being able to provide further assistance to these applicants or any assistance to later applicants. But using legal aid as much as possible while the Fund provides the safety new for those who are refused legal aid, or for needs which legal aid does not cover, everyone can be confident of reasonable protection throughout.