British MPs advised not to meddle in HK affairs

CE defends prosecution of leading members of illegal ‘Occupy’ movement

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Monday urged a group of British parliamentarians not to meddle in the city’s internal affairs or to interfere in a trial of leading figures involved in the illegal “Occupy Central” movement.

She made the remarks after eight members of the British parliament put forward a motion condemning the “vague” charges made against nine leading activists of the 2014 protests.

At a press conference, Lam said she was opposed to interventions made by foreign organizations in the SAR’s internal affairs — especially in regard to legal matters.

She also stressed that the prosecutions against “Occupy” movement defendants were filed by the city’s Department of Justice under the prerequisite of judicial independence and the rule of law. Therefore, under such circumstances, the CE would not be intervening in it.

Lam said she didn’t believe foreign governments or politicians had any right to require her administration to interfere in the case

She said such conduct was “highly undesirable” and an “obvious intervention” in the special administrative region’s internal affairs.

On Sunday, Chief Secretary for Administration Matthew Cheung Kin-chung urged British members of parliament to focus more on issues at home instead of intervening in the Hong Kong SAR’s internal affairs.

They have made the “unnecessary” move due to a lack of understanding of Hong Kong’s real situation, he added.

The city’s No 2 official urged people in other countries to stick to the facts in regard to Hong Kong’s future development.

The trial was being held the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on Monday. All nine defendants, including University of Hong Kong law professor Benny Tai Yiuting, sociologist Chan Kinman and pastor Reverend Chu Yiu-ming, pleaded not guilty.

They have been charged with various common law offenses of being a public nuisance, which are punishable with prison sentences of up to seven years.

Cheung also refuted comments made by the British politicians — who questioned the HKSAR’s freedom of speech and judicial independence.

Thanks to a high degree of autonomy endowed by the one “country, two systems” principle, Hong Kong people’s freedoms have been fully protected, he said.

The SAR has been rated by the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based public policy think tank, as the world’s freest economy for the 24th consecutive year.

This performance could not be achieved without the rule of law, as well as an independent and well-established judicial system, Cheung noted.

I don’t believe foreign governments or politicians had any right to require my administration to interfere in the case.” Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor