Hong Kong legislator Junius Ho suing three pan-democrats for defamation over alleged ‘triad member’ remark
- Dennis Kwok, Lam Cheuk-ting and Claudia Mo accused of making comments during police HQ visit
- Ho is seeking unspecified sum for damages and an injunction against trio to prevent them making similar statement in future
A Hong Kong lawmaker is taking three pan-democrat legislators to court for allegedly calling him a triad member.
Junius Ho Kwan-yiu, a legislator for the New Territories West constituency and a rural leader, filed a writ in the High Court on Thursday, suing Dennis Kwok, Lam Cheuk-ting and Claudia Mo Man-ching for defamation.
He has accused the trio of shouting the phrase “Ho Kwan-yiu, triad member” in Cantonese on August 12, when members of the Legislative Council’s security panel visited the Police Tactical Unit headquarters in Fanling for an official demonstration on the use of water cannons, which were first used by the force against anti-government protesters on August 25.
“The defamation and/or malicious falsehood was made by the [three defendants] knowingly to be false or having no reasonable grounds to believe the statement to be true,” the court writ said.
Ho is seeking an unspecified amount in damages and an injunction order by the court to restrain his three colleagues from making or disseminating similar statements in future.
The legislator has been mired in controversy following an indiscriminate attack on protesters and other passengers by a group of men in white T-shirts at Yuen Long MTR station on July 21, which left at least 45 people injured.