HK gov’t tells Speaker: Ours is an independent judiciary 09/02/2010

HK gov’t tells Speaker: Ours is an independent judiciary
09/02/2010
Reacting to an Aug. 31 Tribune story titled “Singson may receive HK anger backlash” wherein the Speaker, Feliciano Belmonte, was quoted as raising the possibility of the court case of Rep. Ronald Singson —charged by the Hong Kong government with drug possession — being the recipient of the anger of Chinese citizens in Hong Kong and may prove to detrimental to Singson, a Hong Kong government spokesman yesterday defended the integrity of the city’s judicial system, saying : “We do not comment on individual court cases. However, Hong Kong’s rule of law is upheld by an independent judiciary. It is the cornerstone of our society. Judges here (HK) administer justice according to law without fear or favor.”

Belmonte was quoted in the report as saying that it would be “pitiful” if the botched rescue last week that resulted in the death of eight Hong Kong residents would affect the case now pending in the former British colony.

“That’s a different matter altogether. That would be pitiful,” Belmonte said amid continued outrage over the Manila incident that killed eight Hong Kong and Canadian tourists held hostage by a former police officer.

At the same time, Deputy Secretary for Security, Mr Ngai Wing-chit, of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government issued a clarificatory statement in reaction to Tribune’s Sept. 1 report which had Senate Pro-Tempore Jinggoy Estrada confirming the fears of the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in HongKong over the anger of Hong Kong residents spilling over to their jobs and persons.... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100902hed3.html