Ex-IPCC Panel Adviser Says He Felt 'manipulated'

A British scholar who earlier quit a panel investigating allegations of police brutality in Hong Kong says the upcoming national security law will very likely give the police more power to punish dissidents.

Clifford Stott also said he walked away from the panel under the Independent Police Complaints Council because he felt "manipulated".

Stott’s comment comes after the security chief, John Lee, revealed that the police are already setting up a special unit to enforce the anti-sedition law. Stott says it’s “quite frightening” as officers may be given the power to arrest anyone merely standing in the street.

He said he supports calls to defund the police force - in principle - as the money could then be spent on other social services and eliminate inequalities, which put underprivileged people in a position to commit crimes in the first place.

Speaking during an online seminar organised by the Foreign Correspondents' Club, Stott also said he felt he had been "put in an awkward position" when appointed to the IPCC panel investigating allegations of police brutality. But he refused to go into details.

He said the structure of the police watchdog also makes it impossible for it to come up with a fair report.

The IPCC report concluded there was no systemic problem with policing in Hong Kong, and the use of force by officers was only in response to violence during the protests.

Stott then conducted his own study to rebuff the council's findings, saying that the police had misjudged the dynamics of the protests, had used disproportionate force at almost all protests, and ended up creating more disorder instead of preventing it.