Hong Kong protests: Baptist University refuses to renew contract of lecturer convicted over role in demonstrations
- The opposition lawmaker hits out at ‘political persecution’ and vows to appeal decision
- Benny Tai will learn fate of his job at Hong Kong University when it reveals findings of similar inquiry on Tuesday
Hong Kong Baptist University has told outgoing opposition lawmaker Shiu Ka-chun it will not renew his lecturing contract after he was jailed over pro-democracy protests in 2014, a day before another leader of the demonstrations was set to learn the fate of his job at the University of Hong Kong.
Shiu described the decision to terminate his job with the department of social work as “political persecution”.
The personnel department sent him an email on Monday saying his contract would not be renewed when it expired on August 31, according to the lawmaker. No reason for the decision was given.
“Although I’m not too surprised, I can’t help feeling angry and disappointed,” Shiu said. “A publicly funded university has chosen to side with the authorities to suppress dissident views. It is flatly unfair … I was not given a chance to explain or ask why. Is this the procedural justice one should expect from a publicly funded university?”
He intended to lodge an appeal and sought to meet university president Roland Chin to demand an explanation.
The university said it followed established policies and procedures in handling all contract matters. “Due to privacy reasons, the university cannot disclose any details about any specific case.”
The HKU governing council has been examining the findings of an investigation into whether there was cause to fire Tai.