Hong Kong’s John Lee ‘strongly’ condemns US bill to sanction 49 city officials, says bid to intimidate judges contradicts American constitution
- Proposed legislation an obvious attempt to intimidate judges and prosecutors, Chief Executive John Lee says
- Justice minister Paul Lam, who is named in bill, calls Hong Kong Sanctions Act ‘malicious’
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has “strongly” condemned a bill proposed by US lawmakers seeking to impose sanctions on city officials and judges, saying the attempt to intimidate judicial officers contradicts the principles espoused by the country’s own constitution.
Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok on Saturday described the Hong Kong Sanctions Act as “malicious” and emphasised that the city’s legal community would not bow to what he called “irrational intimidation”.
Introduced in the US Congress earlier this week, the bipartisan bid by lawmakers in the House of Representatives and the Senate is calling on US President Joe Biden’s administration to impose sanctions on 49 city officials, judges and prosecutors over “human rights violations” under the Beijing-imposed national security law.
Lam, Chief Justice Andrew Cheung Kui-nung and four other justices, 17 judges, six magistrates, numerous prosecutors and a private lawyer working for the Department of Justice as a prosecutor were among those named in the document.
Lee said he was confident that the judges named in the bill would continue to perform their duties fearlessly and try cases impartially, adding the proposed legislation was an obvious attempt at intimidating judicial officers, as well as seeking to influence the impartial hearings and adjudication of court cases.
“Their obstruction of justice not only violates the rule of law, but also violates judicial independence that the US claims is guaranteed in their own constitution,” he told reporters at Hong Kong International Airport on Saturday, before leading a trade delegation to Shanghai.
“These despicable and shameless behaviours reflect the hypocrisy and barbarity of these politicians that have sinister intentions. I once again condemn them in the strongest possible terms.”