Latest news with #IsaacLai
HKFP
2 days ago
- Politics
- HKFP
Lingnan University student sues school over disqualification from top council election
A student at Hong Kong's Lingnan University is challenging in court the school's decision to disqualify him from a top council election last year. Isaac Lai, vice-chair of the Lingnan University Students' Union, appeared at the High Court on Friday to dispute the public university's decision to bar him from running in the top governing council election last November. At that time, the university accused Lai of 'promoting himself by non-official means' and disqualified him from the election one day before the vote, according to local media reports. Lai filed the lawsuit in March, asking the court to overturn the university's decision after his internal complaint to the university council was rejected. Lingnan University registrar Margaret Cheung and the university council were listed as the respondents in Lai's challenge. Lawyers for Lai told the court on Friday that he only used his personal Instagram account to share his election platform, Sing Tao reported. That account was private and not openly accessible, they said. They also argued that the university's election rules did not explicitly restrict candidates from promoting themselves through official means, and that Lai's disqualification was unlawful. But lawyers representing the university argued that the rule restricting election promotion to official channels could ensure a 'fair election.' Lai knew the rule but deliberately posted QR codes linking to his Instagram account on campus, hence breaking election rules, the university's lawyers said. Judge Russell Coleman will hand down his judgment on or before July 31.
HKFP
3 days ago
- Politics
- HKFP
Hong Kong Federation of Students refutes rumours of dissolution, says ‘unknown parties' impersonated group
The Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS) has refuted rumours of dissolution after local media outlets reported its disbandment, citing a statement issued by 'an emergency general meeting' of the student group. Isaac Lai, the vice president of Lingnan University Students' Union (LUSU) and the chief representative of the HKFS, said in a statement issued on Wednesday evening that 'some unknown parties' had impersonated the student group to announce that it would be dissolved. 'The HKFS is composed of student unions from higher education institutions in Hong Kong. We have not received any requests for dissolution from any student union member,' Lai said in a Chinese-language statement. 'We hereby clarify that there is no dissolution.' Lai said that, according to the HKFS constitution, dissolution of the organisation must be approved by its executive committee and supported by at least three-quarters of the representatives in the general assembly to become effective. HK01 reported on Wednesday evening that the HKFS would be 'dissolved immediately,' citing a statement sent on behalf of the student group to some local outlets via email. The purported statement said Lai and fellow federation member Charles Ng were suspected of transferring all funds from bank accounts under the HKFS without approval after the duo applied to the police in September 2023 to name themselves as the responsible persons for the student group and altered the signature information for all its bank accounts. It also said that, considering that Lai and Ng were among the four current and former LUSU members arrested earlier in June, the student group decided to dissolve, and its assets would be donated to the Community Chest. Police said the four were arrested on suspicion of stealing HK$1.3 million from the LUSU's funds for personal expenses. HK01 reported in November that a self-proclaimed Lingnan University student accused LUSU members of embezzlement in a mass email to the school. Lai denied the accusation at that time. Ongoing dispute Rumours of dissolution came amid an ongoing dispute between HKFS representatives and some pro-Beijing figures claiming to represent the HKFS Fund, a limited company related to the student group. The HKFS, established in 1958, is a registered society under the Police Licensing Office. In 2015, the federation explained the origins of the H.K.F.S. Fund, saying it was established after the sale of Hong Kong Student Travel Ltd by Hong Kong Student Travel Bureau Ltd in 1993. The travel bureau earned HK$23 million from that sale, HK$5 million of which was injected into the federation, while the remaining HK$18 million was managed by the travel bureau and later renamed the H.K.F.S. Fund Ltd. In November 2023, HKFS representatives filed a police report after suspecting a group of unknown men had tried to forcefully enter two of its properties. Prior to the alleged forced entry, the HKFS accused pro-establishment lawmaker Ma Fung-kwok, a director at the H.K.F.S. Fund, and other directors of 'forcibly seizing control of the company' by launching legal proceedings against several former executives of the student group and requesting them to move out of the two units. Lawyer Paul Tse, who helped launch the legal proceedings against the HKFS, told Ming Pao that the lawsuit had been filed because there was evidence showing the premises in question had been 'misused' for activities that violated the national security law. In the Wednesday statement, Lai said that Ma and Simon Hau, a pro-Beijing businessman and secretary of the H.K.F.S. Fund, had 'legally occupied' two properties belonging to the student group. On Thursday, Lai went to the HKFS headquarters in Waitex House, Mong Kok, which has been occupied by pro-Beijing figures since 2023. He still could not enter because the office lock had been changed. The acrylic signboard outside the office had also been removed. Three metal signboards are now placed outside the entrance door: one with the HKFS name, and the other two reading 'Stability of Hong Kong' and 'Realisation of Chinese Dream.' According to the statement, Lai and other HKFS representatives filed a lawsuit in March at the High Court against Ma and Hau, demanding that the two immediately return the properties. The legal proceedings are still ongoing, it said.
