THE ICAC was being turned into ''another secret service'' for Britain after 1997, former deputy operations director Alex Tsui Ka-kit said yesterday, claiming his objections sparked a plot to sack him.
Mr Tsui said a new secret department - the Technological Services Branch - had been created under a new deputy director of operations.
Elaborating on earlier claims of the political targeting of prominent Hong Kong people, Mr Tsui told the third day of the historic security panel hearing into his dismissal that his resistance to the move was not tolerated.
''In the process of the strategic restructuring, Jim Buckle [Director of Operations] did not allow any dissident to stay,'' Mr Tsui said.
''I don't want to see the anti-graft spirit of the ICAC being changed. What is most important, I don't want the ICAC to become a secret service for Britain after 1997 while using the guise of anti-corruption,'' he said, after a caution to be wary of the Official Secrets Act.
''They have tried to conceal any vetting work they have been carrying out and the Special Branch will be disbanded soon. The Government tried to use the pretext of integrity checks as an explanation for the public.'' Mr Tsui intended to beef up what he called a ''coarse account'' of the Independent Commission Against Corruption's political vetting procedures by divulging more details yesterday.