Hong Kong justice minister moves to end private prosecution over taxi driver accused of ramming protesters
- For the second time in a week, Teresa Cheng seeks to block opposition lawmaker Ted Hui from pursuing criminal cases tied to the social unrest
- The legislator accuses the minister of putting politics above the law and vows to fight with a judicial review
Hong Kong’s justice minister is seeking to quash a private prosecution brought by an opposition lawmaker for the second time in a week, this time over a taxi driver accused of ramming his vehicle into a group of protesters last year.
In a letter seen by the Post on Thursday, the Department of Justice invited Democratic Party lawmaker Ted Hui Chi-fung to choose a day before the end of the month for a 15-minute court session to “withdraw the summons”.
Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions William Siu Kai-yip, writing on behalf of Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah, was referring to a summons Eastern Court granted Hui in June to pursue a criminal case against Henry Cheng Kwok-chuen, the driver.
Under the summons, Cheng, 59, faces one count of dangerous driving over the incident in Sham Shui Po on October 6, when protesters were rallying over the government’s ban on using masks to hide their identities. He is unrelated to the secretary.
The move came just two days after the minister wrote to Hui saying she would throw out his attempt to privately prosecute a policeman who shot 21-year-old protester Chow Pak-kwan, during a confrontation in Sai Wan Ho last year.
