Alarm As Extradition Bill Appears In Gazette

The government says there is no significance in the fact that its controversial extradition bill has appeared in a list of legislation in the official Gazette, insisting that it has stopped all work on the law.

Images of the Gazette's Index of Bills circulated widely on Friday, with some anti-extradition campaigners suggesting that it indicated that the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019 was still alive.

A government spokesman said in response: "The Gazette concerned sets out the dates of the first publication in the Gazette for bills that the Government introduced into the Legislative Council for first reading in 2019.

"The Government has clearly indicated on many occasions that all legislative work in relation to the amendment of the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance has completely stopped."

Critics of the extradition bill, which was the trigger for anti-government protests that have continued for nine weeks, said the publication proved that the bill was not "dead", as the government had asserted. Full withdrawal of the bill is one of five demands submitted by protesters.