University of Hong Kong council set to vote on report into Occupy-related donations
Ballot of 23 council members could pave the way for former law dean to take up key managerial post or lead to disciplinary action
The University of Hong Kong's governing body is set to vote as early as this week on whether to accept an inquiry report on the controversial handling of donations by an Occupy co-founder and his supervisor.
The end of the investigation could clear the way for the supervisor, former law dean and pro-democracy scholar Professor Johannes Chan Man-mun, to take up a key managerial position at HKU, which the pro-Beijing press says he should be denied.
Three people familiar with the case told the South China Morning Post that university council members would receive a ballot paper on the inquiry report possibly by email or fax, instead of waiting for the regular end-of-month meeting.
"I agree we should resolve the matter as soon as possible. It's time the council moves on to other issues. People outside are saying HKU has delayed the donation case for political reasons," said one of the people, who is a council member.
The donation saga, which followed the hacking and leaking of Occupy co-founder Benny Tai Yiu-ting's emails and those of others to the media last year, is seen as a political attack on Tai, who is an associate law professor, and his former boss Chan, who advocated a moderately liberal approach to political reform.
Acting on complaints, the university asked its audit committee in December to examine Tai's acceptance and use of HK$1.45 million in donations to HKU in the past two years, some of which the academic used for Occupy-related projects. Chan was a middleman in passing on the money to the law faculty.
The council has met twice in the past two months to discuss the inquiry report, but was unable to make a decision. In the first meeting, several pro-establishment council members wanted investigators to say who was to blame and asked for an "elaboration" of the report.