Pan-democrats Question Extradition Bill Tweaks

Pan-democrat lawmakers have expressed scepticism over whether they can trust concessions offered by the government in the controversial extradition law bill, because the changes will not be written into the legislation.

At a special meeting of the LegCo's security panel on Saturday, the Security Secretary, John Lee, said there would only be one amendment to the bill.

He said only extradition requests involving crimes carrying a prison term of at least seven years will be entertained.

That’s up from the three years under the original legislation, and other changes would be made in the form of an "administrative statement".

However, Labour Party lawmaker Fernando Cheung said this is unacceptable because it means the Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, would have the final say.

Officials say the changes can plug what they believed is a legal loophole, citing the case of 19-year-old Chan Tong-kai, who's accused of murdering his pregnant girlfriend in Taiwan.

Chan could not be charged over the murder because there is no extradition agreement in place.

The extradition legislation has drawn widespread concerns locally and abroad, as many fear people will not receive a fair trial in the mainland.

Critics say there are risks that Hong Kong people will be handed over to the mainland, even if they're wanted for political reasons.

Thousands took to the streets in protest at the legislation in April and more marches are planned for this week.