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HKFP
17-07-2025
- Politics
- HKFP
Tightened prison rules restricting visits on nat. security grounds to take effect on Friday
Tightened prison rules restricting lawyers and religious leaders from visiting inmates will take effect on Friday, just two weeks after the authorities proposed the amendments. The fast-tracked legislative amendments will allow the Correctional Services Department (CSD) to restrict or even ban a person from visiting an inmate on certain grounds, including safeguarding national security. The proposal will be gazetted and passed directly into law on Friday under 'negative vetting' procedures, allowing it to come into effect before being scrutinised by lawmakers on Wednesday next week. The government proposes the amendments 'to ensure that we can effectively prevent, suppress and impose punishment for acts and activities endangering national security,' said the Security Bureau in a statement on Wednesday. 'Amidst the present complicated geopolitical situation, national security risks still exist. It is necessary to amend the [Prison Rules] as soon as possible to prevent and resolve relevant risks in a timely manner, the earlier the better, for safeguarding national security effectively.' New rules The new rules would grant the CSD the power to refuse any visits that do not comply with statutory purposes, such as facilitating the rehabilitation of inmates and their reintegration into society. The government also proposes restricting the visitation rights of religious leaders and lawyers if authorities see a need to protect national security. Existing rules allow a chaplain to visit a prisoner 'at all reasonable times.' The government also suggests that the CSD can apply for a warrant from a magistrate to bar an inmate from communicating with a legal representative, in person or in writing, as well as with anyone associated with the law firm concerned. The proposal to restrict communications between inmates and lawyers appears to be a response to the convictions of pro-democracy activist Owen Chow and his lawyer, Phyllis Woo, who were found guilty last year of removing a complaint letter from prison without the CSD's approval. Woo is seeking to take her case to the city's top appeals court, with a hearing still pending. The amendments are also set to abolish existing provisions allowing people in detention awaiting trial to wear their own clothes and order meals from outside prison. Other proposals include expanding prison officers' powers to safeguard national security in areas such as regulating and screening letters coming in and out of prisons, handling books from outside, and imposing solitary confinement.
South China Morning Post
12-05-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong activist loses appeal over prison letter but gets lighter sentence
A Hong Kong opposition activist currently serving jail time under the national security law has lost an appeal against his conviction for arranging the unauthorised delivery of a complaint letter out of prison two years ago, but has convinced a court to impose a lighter penalty. Advertisement The High Court on Monday upheld Owen Chow Ka-shing's conviction for instructing one of his legal advisers to take his complaint against the Correctional Services Department to the Office of the Ombudsman, a watchdog that focuses on public administration concerns. But the court agreed to replace his three-day jail sentence with a HK$1,800 (US$231) fine. The same penalty was earlier imposed on Chow's lawyer, Phyllis Woo Wing-see, whose appeal against conviction was similarly dismissed on Monday. Chow, 28, is serving a total sentence of 12 years and 10½ months arising from two previous cases, including a high-profile trial implicating 45 former politicians and activists linked to an unofficial legislative 'primary' election in 2020. He explained in an earlier hearing that he covertly handed over the complaint letter to Woo during a meeting at the Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre on May 2, 2023, out of concern that the prison operator would withhold the document. Advertisement The complaint letter alleged prison officers barred Chow from receiving two books on Buddhism and tore off their covers when they were returned to the sender. Chow's lawyers had taken issue with the letter's nature and argued it should be categorised as an authorised article which did not require to go through a security check before being taken out of prison.
