Hong Kong prisons will offer proof if seeking to ban specific lawyers: Chris Tang

Authorities will provide sufficient evidence and “intelligence” to support any move to restrict specific lawyers from visiting inmates, Hong Kong’s security chief has said in response to a lawmaker who called such limitations under proposed prison rule changes “ridiculous”.

Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung told a security panel meeting on Monday that a magistrate would need to be satisfied with the government’s submissions to grant a court warrant to restrict legal visits. He added that authorities would have “intelligence” for suspected behaviour violating the proposed five “key purposes” for prison visits.

“We will tell the court if we have intelligence from somewhere else that a lawyer might help smuggle [objects] out of the prison,” Tang said, without pinpointing to a specific case.

Activist Owen Chow Ka-shing, who is currently serving jail time under the national security law, was fined HK$1,800 (US$230) for instructing one of his legal advisers to take his complaint against the Correctional Services Department to the ombudsman.

Tang was responding to lawmaker Paul Tse Wai-chun, who questioned how authorities could gather sufficient evidence to file a court warrant to limit a specific lawyer or staff from their law firm from contacting a designated inmate, when legal visits in prisons were confidential in nature.

“On what grounds can the government apply for this warrant, if [officers] cannot listen to the meeting’s content? If this warrant is challenged by judicial review, the government will need to make explanations. What evidence will be used to support this?” Tse asked.