'Govt Will Follow Up On Refugee Activists Case'

The Secretary for Security, John Lee, said on Saturday that authorities are studying how to follow up on the case of two localist activists who fled Hong Kong while on bail and were given refugee status in Germany.

Ray Wong, who led the pro-independence group Hong Kong Indigenous, and Alan Li, who was a member of the group, had both been charged over the 2016 Mong Kok riot, and were granted refugee status in Germany around a year ago.

“In regard to how the case should proceed, the police and the Department of Justice will of course look into the matter and examine it in accordance with the law and all the available avenues,” said the security chief, without explaining what options authorities have.

Meanwhile, top officials continued to criticised Berlin for its decision to grant asylum to the activists.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam told reporters that she had made clear to Germany's acting consul general David Schmidt in a meeting on Friday that Berlin’s decision had

undermined Hong Kong’s international reputation in terms of judicial independence, and she doubted that the German authorities' decision "had been based on the facts".

Chief Secretary, Matthew Cheung, meanwhile, said there was no political persecution on the part of the government, adding the SAR has an independent judiciary, the two were represented by lawyers, and would face an open trial.