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AWH/IS
Bernard Barnett, Esq.,
Editor, ADWEEK,
$
Mercury House,
Waterloo Road,
London SE1
27th September 1974
Х
Dear Mr. Barnett,
I am writing to draw your attention to an article in your September 20th edition, under the "Diary" headline, about an advertisement recruiting young officers to the Royal Hong Kong Police Force.
This article makes a number of assertions of fact which are demonstrably wrong. There is no rank of Chief Constable in the Royal Hong Kong Police Force and the allegation in the article about the "last Chief Constable" could only be taken as referring to the last Commissioner of Police in Hong Kong. Any allegation that the last, Commissioner is "still evading Interpol on corruption charges" is quite unfounded and I assume that you will make a correction of this statement as soon as possible. A copy of your article will of course be sent to the last Commissioner of Police.
For your information, the former Hong Kong Police officer against whom extradition proceedings have been brought in Britain is Mr. Peter Godber. He was one of 14 Chicf Superintendents in the Royal Hong Kong Police Force. The rank of Chief Superintendent is several ranks below that of Commissioner of Police.
Further, the advertisement to which the article refers was not placed by Leo Burnett, either here or in Singapore. Leo Burnett do not handle the account.
This really is a disgraceful departure from what I am sure you yourself regard as the right standards for journalism. It is perhaps more to be pitied as it
it occurs in a publication related closely to the advertising industry which is itself under attack in the area of "truth"
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