LEADING liberals Martin Lee Chu-ming and Szeto Wah yesterday went ahead with legal action against former Appeal Court judge Simon Li Fook-sean for alleged libel.
Writs were served on Mr Li's solicitors yesterday, alleging he had damaged their character and reputation by saying they had appealed to Hongkong people to make a run on mainland-funded banks after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
The writ said the ''defamatory words were untrue'' as the pair had at no time appealed to the public to withdraw funds from Chinese banks.
Instead, the plaintiff appealed to the public to refrain from doing so after an appeal to cause a run on Chinese banks had been made by others, it said.
The ''defamatory words'' meant the pair intended to cause financial harm to the Chinese banks without due regard to the economic stability and prosperity of Hongkong, the writ added.
The pair are claiming damages, costs and an injunction restraining Mr Li among others from further publishing the remarks or any similar remarks.