DISSIDENT Lau Shan-ching is seeking the British Government's help in his campaign to stand in next month's election.
In a letter to Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd, Mr Lau said the decision to bar him from the poll had pre-empted the democratic process and deprived Hong Kong people of the right to choose.
''It is a blatant desecration of democracy,'' the letter said, and a serious violation of civil rights.
Mr Lau has been refused permission to stand in the election on the grounds that he was not resident in Hong Kong for the required 10 years prior to his nomination.
For much of that period he was in jail in China for his involvement in the pro-democracy movement.
Mr Lau's letter said the Registration and Election Office had not taken into consideration the Bill of Rights, which stipulated that every permanent resident should have the right to have access to public service.
He said he was detained involuntarily in China and without the due process of a fair trial.
