The Government estimates about 5,000 DNA samples a year will be taken from crime suspects under a bill now before Legco, but some lawmakers fear the number will be much higher.
The Dangerous Drugs, Independent Commission Against Corruption and Police Force (Amendment) Bill 1999 will empower police and anti-graft officers to take DNA samples from suspects where a 'serious arrestable offence' is involved. A government amendment says such offences are those that carry a jail term of not less than seven years.
Principal Assistant Secretary for Security Eliza Yau Kwai-chong told the Legco bill committee yesterday that police would target offences such as rape, murder, arson, kidnapping and indecent assault. This would involve about 5,000 samples.
But lawmakers say official figures show that, on average, 29,400 people were arrested for serious offences in each of the past three years. Democrat James To Kun-sun, chairman of the bill committee, said the scope of the bill might be too wide. 'The maximum penalty for shoplifting is 14 years, which means it is a serious arrestable offence,' he said. 'It is hard to persuade me that a person who has stolen a bar of chocolate may also need to give his DNA sample.'
