Lawyer for Demosisto’s Agnes Chow describes ‘chilling effect’ on political speech in Hong Kong in court fight over by-election disqualification

Paul Shieh questions whether returning officers should have been allowed to ‘trawl through’ public statements made by Chow and her group dating back indefinitely

Chow, a party colleague of Occupy poster boy Joshua Wong, wanted to run in a Legislative Council by-election in 2018

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Agnes Chow is challenging in the High Court a returning officer’s decision to bar her from running in a Legco by-election last year. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 8:35pm, 17 Jun 2019Updated: 10:16pm, 17 Jun 2019

A lawyer representing a Hong Kong student activist challenging government attempts to ban her from a by-election has described a “chilling effect” on political speech in the city.

Agnes Chow Ting, a Demosisto party colleague of Occupy poster boy Joshua Wong Chi-fung, was barred from last year’s Legislative Council by-election after a returning officer found the “self-determination” her group advocated was not in line with the city’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law, which states Hong Kong is a part of China.

Barrister Paul Shieh Wing-tai SC on Monday questioned whether the returning officers should have been allowed to “trawl through” public statements made by Chow and her group and dating back indefinitely, saying it gave rise to a “chilling effect”.

The unlimited time limit could affect others wanting to take up official positions and “they will never know when it will come back to haunt them,” Shieh said at the High Court. He said it could affect a chairman of the Bar Association seeking to become a judge.

Demosisto supporters out campaigning for Agnes Chow in January last year, before her Legco bid was derailed. Photo: David Wong

In Hong Kong, those in important government positions are constitutionally required to take an oath that they will uphold the Basic Law.

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