Woman who abused ex-domestic worker Erwiana blocked from appealing Hong Kong damages order involving other Indonesian

Judge who ordered her to pay HK$170,000 says application ‘must be refused’ in ‘interests of justice’

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Law Wan-tung has been involved in two court cases involving Indonesian women she employed. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 8:40pm, 28 Jun 2018Updated: 8:42pm, 28 Jun 2018

The Hong Kong employer jailed for torturing Erwiana Sulistyaningsih was blocked from mounting an appeal against a recent court order to pay another Indonesian domestic helper HK$170,000 (US$21,600) in damages for assault and for holding her captive nearly a year.

The District Court on Thursday threw out Law Wan-tung’s summons for leave to appeal and stay of execution of a court order, after judge Liu Man-kin reviewed his February judgment and concluded the application “must be refused”.

“There is no reasonable prospect of success in the defendant’s appeal,” he wrote. “Further, I am of the view that there is no other reason in the interests of justice that the appeal should be heard.”

Liu had ordered Law to pay Tutik Lestari Ningsih HK$170,000 plus interest after accepting the Indonesian’s claim she had been assaulted on several occasions and imprisoned for 346 days, during which time she was only paid HK$6,000 to work 20 hours a day with no holidays.

Former Indonesian domestic worker Erwiana Sulistyaningsih was also abused by Law. Photo: David Wong

But Law’s counsel, Stephanie Wong, argued in appeal filed two weeks later that the court had erred in not dismissing those claims.