Hong Kong government calls on court to punish fugitive ex-lawmaker Ted Hui for jumping bail in 4 criminal cases
- Government-assigned lawyer says judge could declare Hui, who now lives in Australia, guilty in absentia as he had chosen to abandon his right to defend himself
- Hui, 39, first fled to Denmark in November 2020 while out on bail awaiting trial on nine charges, and then later settled in Australia
A government-assigned lawyer applied to the High Court on Thursday to either sentence the former opposition lawmaker to jail or a fine on four counts of contempt of court, saying the judge could unilaterally declare the 39-year-old politician, now settled in Australia, guilty as he had chosen to abandon his right to defend himself.
Hui first fled to Denmark in November 2020 while out on bail awaiting trial on nine charges. He later flew to Britain before relocating to Adelaide, in South Australia.
The former Democratic Party lawmaker previously said that he held Hong Kong’s “unjust” court in contempt, as the “Hong Kong Communist regime” had reduced it to a tool for suppressing dissent following the imposition of the national security law by Beijing.
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Prosecutors have accused Hui of interrupting three Legislative Council sittings between May and June of 2020, and of harassing a man who filmed anti-government protesters during a demonstration outside a police station in the summer of 2019.
Media reports later emerged that Hui had enlisted the help of Danish parliamentary members to draft a bogus itinerary and invitation letter to facilitate his flight. Police also found that Hui’s parents, wife and children had left for London shortly after his departure.
Barrister Anthony Chan Ho-ki, for the secretary of justice, said Hui had deliberately and actively provided false and misleading information to dupe the court into returning his travel document.
Not only had Hui’s escape delayed the criminal proceedings in the original cases, which involved other defendants, he had undermined the public’s confidence and trust in the due administration of justice, Chan added.
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“Mr Hui’s deception of the police and his subsequent escape were all premeditated,” he said. “He obviously knew what he was doing, and the very reason for doing what he did was to try to escape from, and frustrate, the criminal proceedings launched against him.”
Mr Justice Andrew Chan Hing-wai reserved his judgment for a later date.
Apart from the nine charges, Hui has also been placed on the wanted lists of national security police and the Independent Commission Against Corruption for allegedly violating the security law and a new offence that prohibits inciting others to boycott an election.
