Advertisement
Opinion
Hong Kong’s prosecutors will not bow to intimidation amid threat of US sanctions
- Call by US lawmakers to punish the justice secretary and 15 prosecutors for their work on national security and protest-related cases is a shocking violation of international norms and an affront to criminal justice
3-MIN READ3-MIN
20
Grenville Cross SC is a criminal justice analyst, a barrister (senior counsel), and a life senator of the International Association of Prosecutors (IAP).
The US Congressional-Executive Committee on China (CECC) was established in 2000, after the normalisation of trade relations with China. It purports to monitor human rights and rule of law issues in China. As China’s world role has expanded, the committee has become increasingly hostile, as its July 12 “staff research report” shows.
It comprises 17 commissioners, drawn from the US Senate and House of Representatives. They include Marco Rubio, who once urged the Nobel Peace Prize Committee to give its cherished award to the leaders of Hong Kong’s protest movement, and Vicky Hartzler, who made headlines last May when, with six other Republican Congressional members, she urged President Joe Biden to sanction Hong Kong judges and prosecutors involved in handling national security cases.
The committee has now called for Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok and 15 of his public prosecutors to face punitive measures because of their involvement in prosecuting individuals suspected of committing national security and protest-related crimes.
Select Voice
Select Speed
1x
AI-generated voice