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Hong Kong judge fines Civil Human Rights Front ex-convenor Figo Chan HK$8,000 over refusal to hand information to police
- Appearing without a lawyer, the 25-year-old Chan asks why police failed to bring up the umbrella group’s lack of registration for the past 19 years
- But West Kowloon Court magistrate says question irrelevant, as case involves only recent refusal to divulge information about group’s finances and other activities
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The former leader of an umbrella group behind many of Hong Kong’s biggest protests in recent years has been fined HK$8,000 (US$1,000) for not handing over information on its activities and finances to police.
Figo Chan Ho-wun, ex-convenor of the now-disbanded Civil Human Rights Front, on Monday pleaded guilty to one count of failing to comply with a notice to furnish information, an offence punishable by a fine of up to HK$25,000.
West Kowloon Court heard the notice was first mailed to Chan, 25, and vice-convenor Eric Lai Yan-ho, pursuant to the Societies Ordinance, on April 21, with a deadline to respond on May 5.
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The notice demanded an explanation for why the front remained active despite cancelling its registration under the ordinance in September 2006, barely two months after it had been granted.
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It also asked the front to disclose its sources of income, expenses and bank account details, and explain the purpose of its involvement in a joint petition with other groups last December asking a United Nations agency to appeal to the Beijing and Hong Kong governments to improve their human rights record.
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