Bankruptcy ruling sought as disqualified Hong Kong lawmaker Baggio Leung fails to repay HK$930,000 owed to legislature

The pro-independence activist, stripped of his seat for insulting China during his oath, has ignored repeated requests to return funds received after his victory

Fellow activist Yau Wai-ching, who owes a similar amount, has been in discussions about how she can repay it, according to Legco’s president

2-MIN READ2-MIN

Sixtus Baggio Leung is draped in a banner that read ‘Hong Kong is not China’ during his oath-taking ceremony at Legco. He was subsequently stripped of his seat.Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 6:53pm, 7 Jul 2020Updated: 6:54pm, 7 Jul 2020

Hong Kong’s legislature will ask the courts to declare disqualified lawmaker Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang bankrupt, after the activist ignored repeated requests to repay about HK$930,000 (US$120,000) in debt.

Legislative Council president Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen made the announcement on Tuesday after chairing a meeting of the Legco Commission, a body consisting of 13 pro-establishment lawmakers who oversee the body’s administrative matters.

Hong Kong’s Legislative Council has been demanding that disqualified lawmakers Yau Wai-ching (left) and Sixtus Baggio Leung return funds granted them after their 2016 elections. Photo: Dickson Lee

In May, the District Court ordered disqualified pro-independence lawmakers Baggio Leung and Yau Wai-ching to return HK$1.86 million (US$240,000) paid to them from public funds after they repeatedly failed to attend hearings to fight the claim.

The duo were stripped of their Legco seats in November 2016 after shouting pro-independence slogans and insulting China during their oath-taking ceremony a month earlier.

By then, the commission had paid each of them HK$929,523 in salary and funds granted to lawmakers to set up offices between September 22 and October 28.