A Hong Kong court has found that authorities were wrong in law to oppose the early release of a convicted murderer on the grounds that he has not served enough time, ordering them to take into consideration all relevant factors for his next review.
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Lo Hon-hing on Wednesday won a judicial challenge in the High Court that compels the Long-term Prison Sentences Review Board to adopt a “holistic” approach in assessing his suitability for early release, taking into account his rehabilitation and the level of risk he poses to society.
The ruling does not prevent the statutory body from returning the same conclusion that the inmate is not yet fit to be considered for discharge.
The applicant, who has been in prison for 18 years, was one of four assailants behind a fatal chopper attack on a 40-year-old newspaper vendor in Sham Shui Po in September 1999. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role as a lookout during the attack.
Lo was described as an “excellent” and “exemplary” prisoner who helped stop an attack on another inmate in 2006 and testified against the two masterminds of the 1999 murder, which led to their conviction in 2012.
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The board, which comprises professionals such as judges, doctors, lawyers and professors, conducts biennial reviews of long-term prisoners’ cases, starting from the fifth anniversary of the commencement of their sentences. It may also carry out special assessments of certain prisoners at the chief executive’s request.
The board reviewed Lo’s case eight times between 2012 and last year, but decided each time that it would not make a conditional release order or recommend that the chief executive commute his life sentence into a fixed term.