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4. But when the prisoner subsequently submitted his own
ما
petition to the Governor, it once again admitted that he had
done the killing. The Governor has therefore concluded that
this destroys the reason to commute and he has withdrawn his
decision to do so.
5. We have consulted the Home Office who agree with the
conclusion in our telegram no. 1210 that there could still be
sufficient doubt to justify a reprieve. Therefore if the
on 18 Decembes
Governor decides after consulting Executive Council to stick to
his decision to let the law take its course, we shall not be
able to assure Ministers that this is a case of the utmost
gravity. The importance of this was stressed by DOP on 11 July
(DOP(73) 17th meeting). There is therefore some possibility
that Ministers would decide for this reason alone not to support
the Governor.
6. Although if we wished to change the law there might be
something to be said for doing so in the context of a bad
decision by the Governor, this would not lessen the constitutional
crisis in Hong Kong. Our overriding interest is to avoid such a
crisis unless and until it is inescapable. Although we do not
yet have the details, it appears from paragraph 7 of Hong Kong
telegram no. 1409, that this point may be reached in the case of
Liu Chu in January. This would be the right context for us to
decide whether we can support the Governor. The Governor is in
a difficult position and the responsibility for his decision
rests under the Constitution with himself alone. I think that in
view of the seriousness of the matter the Secretary of State
could without impropriety give him advice.
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