Govt Appeals Against Longhair Contempt Decision

The Department of Justice said on Friday that it has decided to appeal against a court's decision to throw out a contempt of Legco case against former lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung, popularly known as Longhair, over the snatching of some documents from a government official.

Earlier this month, a West Kowloon magistrate ruled that lawmakers are not covered under contempt offences as defined in Legco's Powers and Privileges Ordinance.

But government lawyers say because the matter involves constitutional issues, it should be dealt with by the Court of Appeal.

On Friday, Leung's lawyer asked West Kowloon Magistracy to dismiss the charge against the disqualified legislator and for Leung's legal costs to be paid by the prosecution.

But the magistrate said this would have to wait until a decision is made by the higher court.

Leung, from the League of Social Democrats, was charged over an incident in the Legco chamber in 2016 when he grabbed documents from the then-undersecretary for development, Eric Ma, during a meeting.

Section 17C of the Powers and Privileges Ordinance states that anyone who takes part in a disturbance that interrupts council proceedings can be fined up to HK$10,000 or jailed for up to 12 months.