Extradition Plan Is Non-political, Says Ronny Tong

Executive council member Ronny Tong says he hopes people who criticise a government plan that would allow extradition to more jurisdictions, including the mainland, are doing so out of legal ignorance, not political posturing.

Speaking on RTHK's Letter to Hong Kong programme, he said the proposed arrangement does not involve politics and is aimed only to serve social justice: "To suggest the government may ignore the law is one thing, but to so much as insinuate that our judges will ignore the law and serve the political interests of Beijing is quite another.

"There is absolutely no reason or no basis or why such insufferable insults should be thrown at our judges. The mere fact that we have extradition arrangements with some 35 countries all over the world but none with our own country is a most unacceptable flaw in our legal system.

"Almost 20 years on, we are still regrettably without a full agreement, so a little bit late is better than nothing at all."

Tong, who is also a senior counsel, said it was for courts, not politicians, to judge whether to approve an extradition.