Prosecute flat-raid police: lawyer

Mainland police who raided the North Point flat of a Hong Kong couple standing trial in Zhaoqing should be punished for gathering evidence illegally, the couple's defence lawyer said. And the couple - who face the death penalty if convicted of corruption charges - should be acquitted because the case against them has been tainted, he argued.

Lawyer Chen Xiaofeng made the call in a submission to the Zhaoqing City Intermediate People's Court, which is expected to pass a verdict this month on charges that Su Zhi-yi, 66, and Kam Shuk-yee, 56, pocketed $4 million of government funds.

Su is accused of being a public officer assigned by the Zhaoqing City Government to run Paraway Industries in Hong Kong between 1988 and 1994, while his wife oversaw the accounts. Prosecutors claim the firm is state-run, while the couple say it is private.

The prosecution told the court last month that Zhaoqing Public Security Bureau officers seized company account books from Su's home in North Point on October 28, 1995. The revelation sparked concerns in Hong Kong. Democratic legislator James To Kun-sun is planning to call a special Legislative Council security panel meeting to discuss the case.

In an editorial this week, the pro-Beijing Hong Kong Commercial Daily claimed the people who came to Hong Kong to take the account books were Zhaoqing City economic officials and Paraway staff.

But the defence submission says the prosecution presented illegally obtained evidence and had failed to prove the company at the centre of the case was state-owned. Mr Chen's submission said: 'During the trial, public prosecutor Zhou Shu repeatedly told the court that the account books related to Paraway Industries were seized from Su Zhi-yi's home in Hong Kong.