Sacked legal scholar Benny Tai to challenge Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam over dismissal
- HKU associate professor admits move is futile but says city’s leader is evading responsibility for infringing on academic freedom
- Lam is default chancellor of publicly funded institution and Tai believes outside forces were responsible for his removal
A day after the HKU governing body voted to immediately remove him from his tenured post, Tai announced on his Facebook page he would take the issue to Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, who in her official capacity is the default chancellor of the publicly funded institution.
“Though I know this is a futile process, Carrie Lam cannot evade her responsibility [for] infringing [on] Hong Kong’s academic freedom,” he wrote. “There is clear evidence that a power beyond the university has overturned the decision of the university.”
Tai, an associate professor of law, was sacked on Tuesday over his criminal convictions last year related to the civil disobedience movement for greater democracy he co-founded in 2014.
In an 18 to 2 vote by secret ballot, the university council, which consists of a majority of members from outside the institution, including government-appointed ones, reversed an earlier recommendation by the campus senate – formed of academic staff – which decided there were not enough grounds for Tai’s dismissal, even though he committed misconduct.