Defence counsel argues prosecution failed to show Lew Mon-hung had perverted public course of justice as they had not proven CY Leung and Simon Peh had authority to halt investigation
CHRIS.LAU@SCMP.COM
PUBLISHED : Monday, 11 January, 2016, 2:03pm
UPDATED : Monday, 11 January, 2016, 2:27pm
Businessman Lew Mon-hung allegedly sent letters and emails to the chief executive and the ICAC head asking them to halt an investigation in a fraud case involving him. Photo: Dickson Lee
Controversial businessman Lew Mon-hung should not be required to make a plea in the first place, his lawyer told the court on Monday, as prosecutors had failed to show if chief executive Leung Chun-ying and the commissioner of the city’s anti-corruption watchdog had the power to stop an investigation.
Senior counsel Joseph Tse Wah-yuen, for Lew, also said the prosecutors had failed to demonstrate Leung and the head of Independent Commission Against Corruption, Simon Peh Yun-lu, were complainants and prosecution witnesses in the case and whether they had a part to play in the investigation allegedly perverted by his client.
Lew, 67, pleaded not guilty to one count of perverting the public course of justice in 2013. He allegedly sent letters and emails to Peh and Leung to urge them to drop an investigation in relation to a fraud case involving him as the then vice-president and executive director of listed company Pearl Oriental Oil. Lew was acquitted in that High Court case last year.
Tse submitted that the prosecutors had failed to show Lew's tendency to pervert.
“If Leung has the authority to instruct Peh regarding a case, and let’s assume he does, can Peh then stop an investigation?” Tse asked, citing a case authority.
Tse therefore asked Judge Frankie Yiu Fun-che to rule “no case to answer” after the prosecutors finished their case on Monday.
But senior public prosecutor Anna Lai hit back and said Leung and Peh’s roles were enshrined in the ICAC ordinance.
Citing the ordinance, she said the ICAC commissioner, subject to the chief executive’s orders, was in charge of the administration of the ICAC, and that the commissioner received courtroom complaints and launched investigations on behalf of the chief executive.
“There is legal basis that the commissioner has the authority to order ICAC officers to launch investigations,” she rebutted.
The judge adjourned the case till Tuesday for Lai to prepare a more elaborate reply.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1899891/controversial-businessmans-lawyer-asks-could-hong-kong
