Hong Kong protests: justice secretary hits out at ‘disgraceful’ British attacks that forced Queen’s Counsel to drop case against tycoon Jimmy Lai
- David Perry, who has handled numerous high-profile cases in the city over the past decade, had been labelled ‘mercenary’ by British foreign secretary
- Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng says she is shocked by the ‘unfair and biased’ attacks on Perry and could not have seen them coming
A top barrister from London tasked with prosecuting high-profile opposition activists in Hong Kong has pulled out of the case, prompting the city’s justice minister to hit back at the British government for its “disgraceful” attacks and political pressure that led to the surprise move.
“For such a reputable British Queen’s Counsel to come to Hong Kong for a case which, in turn, surprisingly attracted so many unfair and biased attacks and views in Britain, it was not us underestimating [the backlash] at all,” Cheng said. “We are just shocked and could not have seen it coming.”
While some lawyers expressed concern that Britain was playing politics at the expense of Hong Kong’s judicial independence, others said it reflected some countries’ diminished faith in the city’s rule of law.
