Hong Kong protests: ‘unfair’ to burden Independent Police Complaints Council with unrest probe without powers, its former chief says

Jat Sew-tong breaks silence to say police watchdog he used to chair lacks powers to properly investigate the anti-government unrest

Judge-led inquiry would have been the best option, says Jat as he accuses government of missing opportunities

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The police watchdog is investigating the force’s handling of the Hong Kong protests, but has been widely accused of lacking sufficient powers to do the task properly. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 10:20am, 22 Jan 2020Updated: 11:01pm, 22 Jan 2020

The former chairman of Hong Kong’s police watchdog has said it was unfair to burden it with investigating the city’s anti-government protests when it was not designed for the job.

Senior Counsel Jat Sew-tong, who led the Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC) from 2008 to 2014, said the outcome of the probe would fail to satisfy both the public and the government, as he publicly backed a judge-led inquiry for the first time.

The veteran lawyer broke his silence on Tuesday night to comment on the watchdog’s ongoing review into police’s handling of the protests since June last year – when a now-withdrawn extradition bill sparked months of ongoing unrest – and its role looking into complaints received by the force.

“Trying to transpose [the IPCC’s role] to an investigatory one, or something of that nature, it’s really putting a square peg in a round hole, in my view,” Jat said at a forum held at the University of Hong Kong.

Jat Sew-tong, the IPPC’s ex-chairman, has spoken out over the probe controversy for the first time. Photo: Edward Wong

The first interim report from the IPCC was originally due to be published in February, but was delayed due to a legal challenge for which no date has been fixed.

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