Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong in High Court bid over district council election ban
- Demosisto co-founder in legal bid to declare he followed nomination rules after election officials barred him over independence stance
- Wong was disqualified from running in last November’s polls, date for judicial review hearing not yet fixed
Pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung has lodged a legal challenge against his disqualification from last year’s district council elections over his stance on Hong Kong independence.
Election officials in October said he had not changed his attitude to independence, which they ruled was in contravention of the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution.
But Wong said in the legal application that his nomination was valid because he had signed a declaration showing his intention to uphold the Basic Law and pledge allegiance to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
He also asked the court to rule that returning officers were not entitled to invalidate nominations by questioning a candidate’s intention, sincerity or genuineness in signing such declaration.
The court documents were filed by Ho Tse Wai and Partners on February 3, but were only made available for the press to inspect on Tuesday, after the High Court registry resumed operations the previous day amid the coronavirus epidemic.
The filing argued election officials’ vetting powers, granted by section 36(1) of the District Council Ordinance, infringe upon several human rights protections for candidates enshrined in the Basic Law and the Hong Kong Bill of Rights.