Seven members of the University of Hong Kong governing council has urged the ruling body to reverse its ban on several students from campus for sympathising with a police attacker.
In an open letter on Thursday, the group denounced the council’s decision, which did not follow regular disciplinary procedures, as “improper according to legal principles.”
“As members of the council, we believe this decision is improper according to legal principles. By not hearing from the students themselves, it runs contrary to the principles of due process and natural justice” the letter read.
The council on Wednesday barred 32 students from entering the campus after they attended a student council meeting last month which passed a sympathy motion for a man who killed himself after stabbing a police officer.
Though the students apologised, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam has urged further action.
The 50-year-old man stabbed himself in Causeway Bay on July 1 after he knifed a police officer outside the SOGO mall.
The authorities condemned the attack as a “lone-wolf terrorist act,” while those who paid tribute to Leung were said to be “glorifying violence.”
The HKU Council ordered all students who attended the July 7 meeting to be denied access to the campus in Pok Fu Lam, as well as being prohibited from using the facilities and services at the university until further notice.
“The continued presence of the group of HKUSU concerned on campus would pose serious legal and reputational risks to the University and have a negative impact on its other members,” the HKU Council said in reference to the Hong Kong University Student Union (HKUSU) students.
On July 9, the HKU student union leadership stepped down, apologised, and withdrew the “seriously inappropriate” motion, after they faced strong criticism from the government.
The university management also condemned the student body’s decision to “whitewash violence and violent attacks.”
China, with the help of local authorities, has been ruling Hong Kong with an iron fist. Authorities have also begun clamping down on pro-democracy activists.
As China has strengthened control over Hong Kong through varieties of laws including the draconian National Security Law, the people of the semi-autonomous city are facing increasing policing and crackdown. (ANI)
