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Rebuke for overseas experts who called for changes at Hong Kong’s police watchdog
- Police watchdog chief says the five-member panel lacks understanding of the situation in the city
- The group had called for the body to get more powers to investigate the force
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The head of Hong Kong’s police watchdog has rebuked a group of overseas experts who called for the body to be given more power to investigate officers’ conduct during six months of anti-government unrest.
Anthony Neoh, chairman of the Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC), said the five-member panel, which his body appointed, had overstepped its function and might lack an understanding of the city.
The experts group, led by Denis O’Connor, the former British chief inspector of constabulary, said in November that the IPCC did not have the investigative capabilities to look into disturbances on such a scale, and should be empowered to subpoena documents and summon witnesses.
Speaking in a mainland media interview released on Saturday, Neoh said: “They do not really understand our situation, so their proposal has overstepped our statutory function.”
“So I’ve told them, thank you for your suggestions, but we have to follow the law,” he told Shenzhen Satellite TV.
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