Ex-govt Officials Appeal To Carrie Lam Again

Over thirty former government officials and politicians have once again appealed to Chief Executive Carrie Lam to set up an independent investigation into the extradition law saga, saying the breakdown of relation between people and police "cannot continue".

The joint statement was signed by former Chief Secretary Anson Chan and former civil service chief Denise Yue as well as pro-democracy leaders such as Audrey Eu and Yeung Sum.

Former civil service chief Denise Yue, former Secretary for the Civil Service Joseph Wong and former Director of Housing Tony Miller were also among the signatories.

They said they've seen the Hong Kong community torn apart, and an independent probe is the only mechanism to heal wounds and start reconciliation in the community.

They suggested the probe look into the causes leading to public opposition of the bill, clashes between protesters and the police, and whether both sides have used using excessive force.

Anson Chan told RTHK's Priscilla Ng that the police should not reject the investigation as it is in their benefit.

"They are caught in the middle of a political wrangle, and that's why I cannot understand why the police are so dead set against this," she said.

"But I hope that, the terms of reference as you can see, are very widely couched. They are not targeted at any specific party. We're interested in getting to the truth, we're not interested in finger-pointing any particular party," the former top official said.

"That must be in everybody's interest. So I hope the police will look at these terms of reference with an open mind and will come to see that this is in their best interest", she said.

Separately, 28 people appointed by the government to sit on its various advisory committees related to the environment and sustainability have also called on the Chief Executive to launch an independent probe into the recent clashes.

Carrie Lam had previously insisted that investigations into allegations that police used excessive force can be looked into by the existing departmental mechanism.