Zero tolerance for serious illegal acts against judicial officer: HKSAR gov't

HONG KONG -- In response to the criminal intimidation against a judicial officer, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government issued a statement on Saturday saying that it will not tolerate such acts.

A judicial officer in performing his judicial duties has received intimidation threatening to hurt his family members, with an attempt to influence the court decisions. The HKSAR government and any law-abiding jurisdiction will not tolerate such violent and illegal acts, said the statement.

The police are taking resolute enforcement action so as to apprehend the culprit as soon as possible and safeguard Hong Kong's public peace and safety, the statement added.

The HKSAR government said that members of the public have the right to express their views or engage in discussions on court decisions and related matters within the boundary permitted by the law. However, one must respect the judicial independence when expressing their views, and should not arbitrarily attack members of the judiciary.

The Department of Justice (DoJ) of the HKSAR government said any person who is dissatisfied with court decisions may lodge appeals through the legal mechanism and should not criticize judicial officers abusively or even intimidate them.

The DoJ strongly appealed to all members of the communities to stop attacking Hong Kong's judicial system by any means. These acts may breach the laws including the national security law in the HKSAR.

The unlawful radical behavior is not acceptable in Hong Kong society and the HKSAR government will follow up on all the illegal acts in accordance with the law to safeguard public peace in a steadfast manner, said the statement.