Registry No.
| SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
Top Secret.
Secret.
Confidential.
Restricted. Unclassified.
PRIVACY MARKING
.In Confidence
DRAFT
MINUTE
To:-
Type 1 +
FROM
Telephone No. Ext.
Department
DEATH SENTENCE: HONG KONG (unattributable)
(If questioned about a letter from notables in
Hong Kong, to be published in the Hong Kong press
today, about the death sentence)
1. It is true that TSOI Kwok-cheong has been
sentenced to death in Hong Kong for murder in the
course of a gang robberty. It is also true that the
Governor, on the advice of Executive Council, has
ordered that the law should take its course. The
death penalty still exists in Hong Kong, although
no sentence has been carried out since 1966. It
is the Governor's duty under the Letters Patent and
Royal Instructions to exercise the Royal Frerogative
of Mercy on behalf of The Queen according to his
own deliberate judgement.
2.
A copy of the letter from the Bishop of Hong
Kong and others has been received in the FCO and is
under consideration.
[Although it is not mentioned in the Bishop's letter,
TSOI has also petitioned The Queen for the exercise
of Her Residual Prerogative of Mercy. It is the
duty of the Secretary of State to advise Her Majesty
on this, but the constitutional position is
complicated. The petition has not yet been submitted
to the Palace and should therefore not be discussed].
(17260) Dd.897459 400m 12/72 G.W.B.Ltd. Gp.863 (16940) Dd.897300 400m 9/72 G.W.B.Ltd. Gp.863
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