Hong Kong’s airport authority changed baggage rule after CY Leung security row
Legal challenge begins at High Court with barrister accusing authority of having “frivolous” attitude towards security
Hong Kong’s airport authority has replaced the security rule at the heart of the legal row surrounding the city’s former chief executive Leung Chun-ying, it was revealed in the High Court on Wednesday.
Leung reportedly pressured airport staff into taking a bag his daughter had left behind to her in a restricted area, breaching strict security protocols in 2016.
The original rule, which governed the screening process for luggage that had been left unattended, required passengers to be present at the screening of “all cabin baggage”. In its place, the new version only requires a passenger’s presence when a suspicious piece of luggage needs to be checked for a second time.
The original version was removed and replaced with a new one in April, the court heard, just two months before the present court hearing, following allegations Leung had flouted the rule.
Barrister Gladys Li SC, representing flight attendant Law Mei-mei who applied for the judicial review on the grounds that the authority’s actions on March 27, 2016, were “illegal” and “procedurally improper”, said the rule, which was key to the case, had been changed to “remove the applicant’s ability to rely on the rule”.
