Hong Kong gov’t seeks to overturn ex-lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting’s acquittal over disclosing ICAC probe
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong’s justice department is seeking to overturn a former lawmaker’s acquittal over disclosing an antigraft probe into a police officer who was under investigation for his role in a mob attack during the 2019 protests and unrest.
Lam Cheuk-ting, of the opposition Democratic Party, was in February cleared of three counts of disclosing the identity of people under investigation.
Lam was sentenced to four months’ jail in January 2022 over disclosing an inquiry by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) into allegations of misconduct against police Superintendent Yau Nai-keung, who was under investigation for his role in the Yuen Long mob attacks.
On July 21, 2019, more than 100 rod-wielding men stormed Yuen Long MTR station and attacked passengers, leaving 45 people injured – including Lam, who said he was there to protect residents from the attack. Police were criticised for their alleged inaction over the incident.
Scope of bribery laws
The Department of Justice was on Monday granted permission to take the appeal against Lam’s acquittal to the Court of Final Appeal, local media reported. The appeal will be heard on February 12, 2025.
At Monday’s hearing, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions William Tam argued that disclosing the identity of a person under ICAC investigation may seriously undermine the effectiveness of the investigation.
But barrister Erik Shum, representing Lam, said that Lam was aware that Yau was under investigation for both bribery and misconduct in public office, but took care to only reveal the latter.
In February, High Court Judge Douglas Yau ruled that Lam had not breached the law since protections against the disclosure of investigations should be confined to bribery and corruption probes, Yau ruled.
Despite quashing the charges, the judge dismissed Lam’s argument that revealing the investigation was justified on the grounds of public interest.
The former lawmaker has been detained since being taken into police custody on February 28, 2021, for a national security charge linked to a primary election held in July 2020. He was in May among 14 convicted of conspiring to commit subversion, and now joins 44 others in awaiting sentencing.
Separately, the District Court ruled last November that prosecutors had presented enough evidence to build a case against Lam and six others accused of rioting during the 2019 mob attack.
Protests erupted in June 2019 over a since-axed extradition bill. They escalated into sometimes violent displays of dissent against police behaviour, amid calls for democracy and anger over Beijing’s encroachment. Demonstrators demanded an independent probe into police conduct, amnesty for those arrested and a halt to the characterisation of protests as “riots.”
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