Hong Kong court orders two disqualified lawmakers ousted over oath-taking saga to repay HK$1.9 million to public purse
- Sixtus Baggio Leung and Yau Wai-ching were told in their absence to return wages and subsidies they received before their disqualification
- They were thrown out of the Legislative Council in 2016 for shouting anti-China slurs and pro-independence slogans during swearing-in ceremonies
A Hong Kong court has ordered two disqualified pro-independence lawmakers to return HK$1.86 million (US$240,000) paid to them from public funds after they repeatedly failed to attend hearings to fight the claim.
Ruling in favour of the Legislative Council Commission, registrar Simon Lui Kin-man of the District Court said that Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang and Yau Wai-ching must each repay about HK$930,000 in wages and subsidies.
Leung told the Post he still owed more than HK$4 million in legal fees so the commission, being a small creditor, would have to wait in line for repayment.
He also said it would be unreasonable for him to waste more energy on the matter, saying the regime had moved the goalposts to disqualify lawmakers in the first place, before suppressing them with what he called procedural tricks.