COPY
0.462 (10724/1082/47)
Copied to:
Mr. MacDougall, Hong Kong.
His Britannic Majesty's Embassy present their
compliments to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and have
the honour to refer to the Ministry's memorandum Ou Series
No. 36/13901 of the 3rd July on the subject of the arrest,
trial and conviction of two members of the Kwangtung
Provincial Peace Preservation Corps.
The Embassy have the honour to observe that it
has been confirmed from the Hong Kong Government that the
acts for which the two men were tried were proved in a
properly constituted Court of Law by a judge sitting with
a jury to have been committed within the territorial
waters of Hong Kong and to be contrary to the laws of that
territory. The right and competence of the Supreme Court
of Hong Kong in respect of illegal acts done anywhere
within the boundaries of Hong Kong whether on land or
water can not be questioned. The jurisdiction of the
Hong Kong Courts of Justice in the present case is there-
fore clearly established.
As the Embassy previously informed the Ministry,
the individuals concerned were found guilty of acts of
armed violence with intent to rob which would in itself
indicate that they could not at the time have been engaged
in carrying out the orders of their superiors. Moreover
the records show that the junk which the men attacked was
loaded with fish and no evidence appears to have been
adduced at any time to establish the allegation that it
was engaged in amuggling rice into or out of Chinese
territory.
/In view
23
:
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.