Former Hong Kong lawmaker wins bail after being charged with leaking details of inquiry into possible police misconduct during Yuen Long MTR attack

The Independent Commission Against Corruption arrested Lam Cheuk-ting over alleged disclosure of details of investigation into a commander who was on duty when the violence erupted on July 21 last year

Former Democratic Party lawmaker, who faces a year in jail, labels anti-graft agency a ‘political tool’ used to ‘oppress dissidents’

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Former Democratic Party lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting addresses supporters outside the Eastern Magistrates Court on Monday. Photo: Dickson Lee

Kathleen Magramo,Brian WongandJeffie Lam

Published: 8:52am, 28 Dec 2020Updated: 12:33am, 29 Dec 2020

Former Hong Kong opposition lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting has been granted court bail after being charged with divulging details of an inquiry by the anti-graft agency into a Yuen Long police commander on duty when a mob attacked protesters and passengers in the district's railway station last year.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), which arrested Lam at his home at around 8am on Monday, said it had investigated the alleged disclosure after receiving complaints and sought legal advice from the Department of Justice before charging the ex-Democratic Party lawmaker with three counts of disclosing the identity of persons under investigation.

The 43-year-old was accused of illegally revealing that Superintendent Yau Nai-keung, then assistant commander in Yuen Long district, was the subject of an investigation by the watchdog into the attack at Yuen Long MTR Station, which took place amid last year’s anti-government protests.

Former lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting, arrested on Monday, was among those who have criticised the police response to the Yuen Long MTR mob attack. Photo: Handout

The charge facing Lam is punishable by a year in prison and a HK$20,000 (US$2,580) fine under the city’s Prevention of Bribery Ordinance, which covers charges related to bribery of public servants, as well as interfering with an investigation.

The former legislator was not required to enter a plea when his case was heard at Eastern Magistrates’ Court on Monday afternoon, just hours after his release from ICAC headquarters in North Point. Albert Ho Chun-yan, a fellow Democratic Party member who represented him in the proceedings, asked the court for extra time to obtain prosecution documents and offer legal advice to his client.

Principal Magistrate Bina Chainrai adjourned the case to March 9 before granting the HK$2,000 bail, on the condition he remain in Hong Kong and reside at his flat in Sha Tin.