The police have said there is insufficient evidence to prosecute lawmaker Junius Ho and rural leader Tsang Shu-wo over their remarks about independence advocates being killed “without mercy” at a rally last year
At an anti-independence rally last September 17, Tsang said onstage that pro-independence activists should be “killed.” Ho then shouted “without mercy” into his microphone.
When he spoke to media after the rally, he also said: “If those who are pro-independence lead to the subversion of the fate of the country… why shouldn’t these people be killed?”
Ho’s comments on “killing” independence advocates were met with condemnation from several quarters, leading to the police investigating the case.
Lawyer and Executive Council member Ronny Tong said Ho may have committed a criminal offence in calling for the deaths of those who advocate independence.
Ho later said it was “a wrong choice of words” that came out in the heat of the moment.
In January, the Legislative Council rejected a move to censure Ho.
Earlier this week, dozens of people who reported the case to the police were notified by email that the investigation into the case has completed.
“[T]he evidence gathered from the investigation was not sufficient to charge anyone,” the police said.
It added that the case may be reviewed again if more information emerges in the future showing that someone may have committed an offence.
Privacy issue
Meanwhile, the email addresses of 280 complainants were exposed to all recipients of the police reply, as the police did not put the email addresses in the “blind copy” email field.
One of those affected has said that a complaint will be filed with the privacy commissioner and the police internal complaint office.
