Ex-envoy too sensitive about article, court told
A former vice-consul claiming $2.5 million damages for a newspaper article he claims has done him enormous harm was accused in court yesterday of being over-sensitive.
Adrian Huggins QC said the report, in the Hong Kong Standard, was not defamatory and asked the judge to dismiss the libel action.
'Whatever the court may feel for the plaintiff's fundamental decency, honesty and sense of grievance, it must, we submit, on any objective approach dismiss this action,' he said.
Mr Huggins said Robert Chan Hung-yuen, former vice-consul for Paraguay, is being over-sensitive when he says the article implies he made false claims about the termination of his contract.
The paper had accurately reported Mr Chan's comments that he knew nothing of an alleged passport scam.
Only those 'avid for scandal' could think the wording implied his comments were false, said Mr Huggins.
Mr Chan, a commercial lawyer, said the article implied he was sacked because of an alleged fraud. But his appointment ended after a change of government in Paraguay, the court heard.
Mr Huggins said the words 'sacked' or 'dismissed' did not convey any suspicion of misconduct on the part of Mr Chan, but meant the Government no longer wished to keep him.
Mrs Justice Doreen Le Pichon will rule on the case later.
