- Correctional Services Department says nobody in custody will be able to attend court hearings until end of month to undergo screenings
- Measure has forced judges to postpone proceedings and left lawyers in a bind, with some having trouble finding time for rearranged sittings, others unable to see clients
Useful to have coronavirus around when you need to keep political prisoners under wraps
The SCMP reports
Lawyers have expressed concern over disrupted schedules and an inability to take instructions from clients after all of Hong Kong’s 23 prisons and correctional institutions were placed under lockdown to conduct rapid Covid-19 tests on more than 7,000 inmates and detainees.
The Correctional Services Department announced on Friday that nobody in custody would be able to attend court hearings until the end of the month to undergo screenings. A department spokesman said 43 employees and 20 detainees had been diagnosed with Covid-19 as of Thursday.
The ad hoc measure has forced judges to postpone proceedings and left lawyers in a bind, with some having trouble finding time for the rearranged sittings and others complaining about being barred from visiting clients.
Former opposition legislator Lee Cheuk-yan, who is serving time over his role in a number of unauthorised assemblies, initially expected a court verdict over a 2021 New Year’s Day protest, at which he was accused of illegally flying a balloon and obstructing a police officer near the Legislative Council.
But Eastern Court on Friday heard the 65-year-old could not attend because he needed to undergo testing.
Lee’s counsel Chris Ng Chung-luen said he had difficulty finding an alternative date to receive the ruling, as he needed to represent another client at a District Court riot trial starting on February 28.
