A University of Hong Kong doctoral candidate who claims his research was 'blocked' said he could only find justice in Hong Kong under Chinese rule.
Thomas Prevensilik, 60, an American scientist who specialises in sonoluminescence - an obscure field of chemistry - told the Court of Appeal that he requested a November date for a hearing, in which he is seeking damages of $188,000.
'I do not think justice is possible under British law,' Mr Prevensilik said. 'Since the handover, I have more freedom in court.' He claims three of the university's scientists, including the Dean of the Faculty of Science, K. F. Cheng, 'blocked my research'.
Mr Prevensilik told Mr Justice Gerald Nazareth that he had sent letters supporting his claim to US President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. He complained that his 'human rights were excluded' by the British judicial process.
He tried to hand documents to journalists sitting in the public gallery. But he was stopped by Mr Justice Nazareth, who said: 'You can carry out a pamphlet campaign against the university, but not in this court.' Mr Prevensilik, who funded his own research into sonoluminescence - the conversion of light into sound - said he lost $188,000 during his term from 1994 to 1995.
The judgment of the appeal, heard before Mr Justice Nazareth, Mr Justice Benjamin Liu Tsz-ming, and Mr Justice Michael Wong Kin-chow, was reserved.