A14 EZ SU THE WASHINGTON POST.THURSDAY, AUGUST 1 , 2019
BY AMANDA FERGUSON
AND WILLIAM BOOTHbelfast — Prime Minister Boris
Johnson completed his awkward,
somewhat hostile tour of the four
nations in the United Kingdom
on Wednesday with a visit to
Northern Ireland.
He wasn’t booed, as he was by
Welsh farmers and Scottish na-
tionalists — because he was far
away from demonstrators.
But his greeting was far from
sunny. Johnson faces a real chal-
lenge keeping a restive four-nation
kingdom allied as it hurtles
toward a cliff-edge departure from
Europe. He may rise or fall over
how he handles questions about
borders, the union and sovereign-
ty.
As Johnson begins his pre-
miership, vowing to leave the
European Union, “do or die,” by
the end of October, he is being
greeted with blunt talk about
what leaving without a withdraw-
al deal would entail.
He is also learning that his
gung-ho Brexit-at-any-cost —
which appealed to the elderly,
white, male, well-to-do Conserva-
tive Party members who picked
him as their leader — doesn’t
translate as well outside Eng-
land’s borders.
Johnson met Wednesday with
the five fractious parties of
Northern Ireland — a place so
split that its gridlocked assembly
has not convened since January
2017.
The party leaders were largely
united on one thing: They
warned Johnson that his threat to
take Britain out of the E.U. with-
out a deal, without a trade pact or
a transition period, was folly, or
worse.
“We are in a crisis, and Brexit is
adding to the chaos,” said Naomi
Long, the leader of the Alliance
Party.
Mary Lou McDonald, the Sinn
Fein president, said Johnson’s
plan for a no-deal Brexit has
increased the likelihood that the
United Kingdom will splinter —
by boosting the case for Irish
reunification.
Speaking to the BBC on
Wednesday morning, McDonaldsaid: “Traditionally, the argu-
ment and the discourse has been
between green and orange, be-
tween Irishness and Britishness.
But Brexit changed that and add-
ed a new dimension, a critical
dimension, which is: European or
not? Inside the European Union
or not?”
Northern Ireland is slated to
leave the E.U. along with the rest
of the United Kingdom. The Re-
public of Ireland to the south will
remain a member of the E.U. One
of the most vexing challenges of
Brexit is what to do about the
border between the two. Under
what terms will milk, machine
parts, beer, financial services, ba-con and people move across?
Johnson has said he will not
meet with European leaders until
they agree to strike the Irish
border “backstop,” or guarantee,
from the withdrawal agreement
they negotiated with his pred-
ecessor, Theresa May.
The backstop seeks to ensure
an open border by essentially
tying Britain to E.U. rules and
regulations in the case the two
sides cannot agree to a trade deal
that makes such a guarantee
unnecessary.
After her meeting with John-
son, Sinn Fein’s McDonald said
that if there was a hard Brexit,
she would push for a vote forNorthern Ireland to leave the
United Kingdom.
Nichola Mallon, a leader of the
Social Democratic and Labour
Party, said she had a “very blunt
meeting” with Johnson and ob-
served that he did not have a full
grasp of the “complexities” of
Northern Ireland.
She said she told Johnson that
he “must avoid a hard Brexit at all
costs.”
Mallon said she reminded the
prime minister that he had re-
sponsibilities under the Good Fri-
day Agreement, which ended 30
years of sectarian violence, and
that he “must live up to them.”
Mallon said, “We pressed him
time and time again and just got
stock responses.”
On the other hand, Arlene
Foster, the leader of Northern
Ireland’s Democratic Unionist
Party, said she and Johnson had a
good talk.
Foster’s DUP has propped up
the minority Conservative gov-
ernment in Westminster with a
coalition partnership for the past
three years. In exchange, the
government under May and now
Johnson is showering $1.5 billion
on Northern Ireland.
Foster said Johnson promised
to be “neutral on the administra-
tion of Northern Ireland but will
never be neutral on the union.”
She said an Irish referendum on
unification would not receive
Johnson’s endorsement.
Johnson did not make any
public appearances during his
four-hour visit to Belfast.
In a short statement to report-
ers on his arrival at Stormont
House, the site of Britain’s North-
ern Ireland Office, he vowed to
help the parties of Northern Ire-
land restart their stalled parlia-
ment.
The stalemate sits squarely onthe shoulders of Irish politicians,
but Johnson’s predecessor did
little to alleviate it.
“It’s great to be here in North-
ern Ireland, and clearly the peo-
ple of Northern Ireland have been
without a government, without
[the Northern Ireland Assembly],
for two years and six months, so
my prime focus this morning is to
do everything I can to help that
get up and running again,” John-
son told reporters, adding that he
expected Brexit also to come up
in talks.
Downing Street confirmed
that he had planned no individu-
al media interviews and would
take no reporter questions during
his visit, though a Sky correspon-
dent cut in with a question about
his dinner with the DUP.
As Johnson traveled north, Ire-
land’s central bank released new
estimates, forecasting that a “dis-
orderly Brexit” would cost the
republic 34,000 jobs and reduce
annual economic growth from
4.1 percent to 0.7 percent in 2020.
Damien McGenity, a leader of
Northern Ireland’s Border Com-
munities Against Brexit, stood
outside the stalled parliament in
Belfast to warn that a no-deal
Brexit would be a job killer.
“This no-deal nonsense that
the new prime minister is coming
out with is just crazy,” he said.
“I cross the border seven or
eight times a day. My wife works
in the south. Her family lives on
the other side of the border. It’s
just us going about our daily life.
And no matter what anyone says,
there will have to be checks on
the border if there is no deal. This
is E.U. rules.”
He said, “It's going to have a
massive effect on our lives.”
[email protected]Booth reported from London.N. Ireland politicians: No-deal Brexit would be disaster
Hard words for British
prime minister as issue
of Irish border festersPOOL/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
Britain’s new Northern Ireland secretary, Julian Smith, left, and prime minister, Boris Johnson, arrive
at Belfast’s Stormont House, the site of Britain’s Northern Ireland Office, for talks on Wednesday.BY SHIBANI MAHTANI
AND ANNA KAMhong kong — A nurse, a pilot
and students were among dozens
of anti-government protesters
who appeared in court Wednes-
day on charges of rioting, after an
unauthorized weekend demon-
stration escalated into chaotic
street battles with police.
The decision to charge more
than 40 people with an offense
punishable by up to 10 years in
prison signaled an intensifying
crackdown by Hong Kong’s
Beijing-backed authorities on a
protest movement that is becom-
ing increasingly violent.
The political crisis was sparked
by a government proposal to al-
low semiautonomous Hong Kong
to extradite suspects wanted by
China to face trial in mainland
courts. Although Hong Kong offi-
cials have suspended the bill, they
have refused to withdraw it or
compromise on protesters’ other
demands, such as an independent
inquiry into police actions. The
protest movement has grown to
encompass a long-held aspiration
for universal suffrage.
Outside the packed courtroom
on Wednesday, as an approaching
tropical storm brought torrential
rain and strong winds to the city,
hundreds of protesters gathered
to offer support for the defen-
dants. Some chanted “Revolution
of our time!” and “Release the
defendants!” Inside, as bail condi-
tions were read out, an elderly
woman cried and hugged one of
the defendants.
All of the accused — ages 16 to
41 — were granted bail, most with
curfew conditions. Some bore
scratches and bruises sustained
in Sunday’s protest. They are toreappear in court in mid-Septem-
ber.
The court hearing followed
clashes Tuesday evening between
officers and protesters who sur-
rounded a police station to voice
anger at the rioting charges. At
one point, protesters were at-
tacked with fireworks launched
from a passing car; at least seven
were taken to the hospital.
Police said earlier Tuesday that
they had charged 44 people with
rioting in connection with the
Sunday protest. One faced an ad-
ditional charge of assaulting a
police officer, and a 45th person
was charged with possession of an
offensive weapon. Police said
more arrests were possible as
their investigation continued.
Protesters over the weekend
defied authorities and marched in
Hong Kong streets for the eighth
consecutive weekend. Police had
warned that the demonstrations
were illegal and that protesters
would be arrested if they did not
leave the scene. On Sunday eve-ning, police used force to clear
demonstrators from densely pop-
ulated areas of the city, deploying
so much tear gas that it seeped
into surrounding homes and left
passersby choking.
Demonstrators had also pre-
pared for battle, arming them-
selves with shields and bricks.
Some used hand protection so
that they could throw hot tear gas
canisters back at police. Officers
responded by charging at protest-
ers, hitting some with batons and
leaving more than a dozen in-
jured.
Some of those charged, howev-
er, said they had nothing to do
with the clashes and happened to
be in the wrong place at the time.
One female defendant charged
with rioting, who declined to be
named because of the criminal
case, said she was among protest-
ers who were moving back from
police lines when canisters of tear
gas were fired.
She was initially detained on a
charge of illegal assembly, like theothers arrested Sunday, before
that was increased to rioting.
“All of us, we are made an
example of,” she said, adding that
officers had pushed her to the
ground. “I didn’t think this would
happen. We are all just chasing
justice and fighting for our
rights.”
Chinese authorities in recent
days have backed a tougher
stance toward the protests, which
have increasingly taken on an
anti-Beijing flavor. The central
government’s Hong Kong liaison
office held an unprecedented
news conference Monday to sig-
nal its support for Hong Kong
leader Carrie Lam and called for
the punishment of “radicals.”
“The most pressing task for the
moment is to punish violence and
maintain order,” said Yang Guang,
a spokesman for the office.
Beijing authorities, mean-
while, have said nothing about a
mob attack on anti-government
protesters who were returning
from a march as well as on by-standers, leaving 45 injured. Sev-
eral members of the club-wield-
ing mob have been arrested, but
on a lighter charge of unlawful
assembly.
Man-kei Tam, the director of
Amnesty International Hong
Kong, said authorities “seem in-
tent on sending a chilling warn-
ing to anyone considering taking
part in future protests.”
“While there was violence over
the weekend, the definitions of
illegal assembly and rioting un-
der Hong Kong law are so broad
they fall far short of international
standards,” he said. “It is highly
questionable that individuals fac-
ing these sweeping charges would
have a fair chance of defending
themselves at trial.”
The riot charges have further
fueled the protest movement.
More protests, including one or-
ganized by civil servants, are
planned in the coming days, and
trade unions are calling for a
general strike Monday.
[email protected]Dozens of Hong Kong protesters appear in court on charges of rioting
Possible sentence of
up to 10 years signals
intensifying crackdownBY NIHA MASIHnew delhi — Indian investiga-
tors are probing possible links
between a prominent ruling-
party politician and a deadly car
crash that has left a 19-year-old
woman battling for her life after
she accused him of rape.
The federal Central Bureau of
Investigation opened a case
Wednesday to look into murder
and conspiracy allegations
against Kuldeep Sengar, a law-
maker from the governing
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The teenager was critically in-
jured in a car crash Sunday,
prompting her family to allege
foul play. Two female family
members were killed.
India’s Supreme Court, mean-
while, is looking into a letter
that the teen had written to the
chief justice expressing concern
for her safety.
Her identity is being with-
held; Indian law mandates that
victims of rape and sexual as-
sault not be identified in the
news media. The allegations
have generated widespread out-
rage over the treatment of rape
complaints by authorities.
The BJP has come under fire
for a perceived lack of adequate
action against its lawmaker.
“It is said a person is innocent
until proven guilty,” said Rakesh
Tripathi, the party’s spokesman
in Uttar Pradesh, Sengar’s home
state. Tripathi said that Sengar
has been suspended from the
party and that further action
will be taken if he is found
guilty.
The crash is just the latest
tragedy to befall the teen’s fam-
ily since she made the allega-
tions two years ago.
June 4, 2017 — The rape
charge: The teenager has ac-
cused Sengar of raping her in
2017 when she approached him
for a job. She said he threatened
to kill her family if she spoke of
it to anyone. She was 17 at the
time of the alleged incident.
In an interview with the Indi-
an Express newspaper, she said
Sengar was a family friend
whom she addressed as “broth-
er.”
Sengar has denied the allega-
tions, calling them a conspiracy
against him.
April 9, 2018 — Her father’s
death: The case garnered atten-
tion in April 2018 when the
woman tried to immolate her-
self outside the state chief min-
ister’s home to protest police
inaction on her rape complaint.
A day after the immolation
attempt, her father was found
dead in a jail where he was being
held in connection with another
criminal case. The family al-
leged that he died of injuries he
sustained in a brutal assault by
Sengar’s brother, Atul Sengar,
and other men just days before.
A postmortem examination
found a dozen injuries on his
body.
Authorities suspended six po-
lice officers and arrested Atul
Sengar.
April 13, 2018 — Kuldeep
Sengar’s arrest: The case washanded over to the Central Bu-
reau of Investigation by a court,
which criticized the government
and police authorities for being
“in league” with the accused.
Kuldeep Sengar was arrestedby the federal agency on April
13, 2018, and was later charged
with raping a minor.
In July, the agency charged
five people, including Atul Sen-
gar, in connection with the
death of the teen’s father.
Dec. 27, 2018 — Case against
the accuser’s family: A com-
plaint was registered against the
teen, her mother and an uncle in
December 2018, alleging they
submitting forged documents as
proof that the girl was a minor.
It was filed by the husband of a
woman arrested in the case.
This July, the teen’s uncle was
convicted in an unrelated case
of attempted murder filed by
Atul Sengar in 2000.
Sunday — The deadly crash:
On Sunday, the teenager was
traveling on a highway with her
attorney and two female rela-
tives when their vehicle was hit
by a truck. The two women were
killed, and the teen was taken to
a hospital, where she was put on
a ventilator. Her attorney also
was in critical condition.
A hospital spokesman told
the news outlet the Hindu that
the teen suffered serious head
injuries and multiple fractures.
Police initially were probing
the crash as an accident. But
after complaints by the teen’s
family and protests from oppo-
sition parties, the federal agency
that took over the case is looking
at whether a conspiracy was
involved, given that the truck’s
license plate had been blacked
out.
The teen’s family has claimed
that they had been threatened
by Kuldeep Sengar’s associates
multiple times.
[email protected]Indian politician’s teen accuser badly hurt in crash, spurring investigation
PRAKASH SINGH/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGESCollision killed two;
girl alleged lawmaker
raped her in 2017DEEPAK GUPTA/HINDUSTAN TIMES/GETTY IMAGESABOVE: Members of
Parliament demonstrate
Tuesday in New Delhi, calling
for action in the rape case
against lawmaker Kuldeep
Sengar.RIGHT: Sengar is escorted to
court in April 2018 in Lucknow,
India, to face charges of raping
a teenage girl.