Hong Kong prosecutor faces justice department probe after email on plans for banned Tiananmen Square vigil

Noting civil servants must be ‘completely loyal to sitting chief executive’, Department of Justice spokesman promises ‘zero tolerance’ if rules breached

Issues of ‘political neutrality’, work email protocols will be central to probe

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A Hong Kong prosecutor’s email touching on June’s banned Tiananmen Square vigil has sparked a Department of Justice probe. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Published: 8:27pm, 11 Sep 2020Updated: 11:45pm, 11 Sep 2020

The Department of Justice on Friday said it would launch a probe after a court prosecutor sent an email to his colleague hours before this year’s June 4 Tiananmen Square vigil telling them he “wished we could do the same thing”.

While senior court prosecutor William Wong Wa-fung stopped short of issuing an invitation or indicating precisely what he meant by that “thing”, he noted this year’s commemoration would be “the last June 4 before the enactment of the national security law”, according to the email published in local media.

A Department of Justice spokesman said “a civil servant must be completely loyal to the sitting chief executive”. He added that staff email accounts should be used strictly for work purposes, and any breach would lead to disciplinary action if found to be true.

“The Department of Justice would follow it up in a serious manner and spare zero tolerance,” he said.

Hong Kong has been the only place on Chinese soil to hold an annual, large-scale commemoration of the 1989 crackdown. But the event was made unlawful for the first time ever this year, as large group gatherings were restricted under social-distancing measures, which police cited in refusing to issue a letter of no objection.

A civil servant must oblige by the law and be dedicated to his duty, impartial and politically neutral, and regardless of one’s political belief ... be completely loyal to the sitting chief executive

A Department of Justice spokesman

The future of the event was further shrouded by uncertainties following Beijing’s imposition of a sweeping national security law on the city at the end of that month.