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Registry
No.
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
Top Secret.
Secret.
Confidential.
Restricted. Unclassified.
PRIVACY MARKING
In Confidence
DRAFT
MINUTE
Type 1 +
To:-
PRIME MINISTER
From
Secretary of State
Telephone No. & Ext.
Department
Death Sentence in Hong Kong.
young man
A pensioner who lately committed murder in
Hong Kong Supreme Hong Kong was sentenced to death by the Court and
his appeal dismissed. After receiving the advice
of the Executive Council (with no dissent but two
abstentions) the Governor has ordered that the law
should take its course. He has not yet made public
a date for the execution.
prisoner
The pensioner has now petitioned The Queen for
mercy and it falls to me to advise Her Majesty
Clemences or expanel whether there are any grounds for pardon or whether
the Governor's decision should stand.
My legal advice is that under rules laid down by
in 1947 Mr. Creech-Jones/ and endorsed by me after we took
the prime nesrons distity rexts upon the Governor and that. office, unless there has been a miscarriage of
justice or new material, the Secretary of State would
normally advise that Her Majesty should not intervene.
́against the Governor's decision I would so act and
•
take the responsibility, but for the recent debate in
the House of Commons and for the fact that we intend
Ireland.
to remove the death penalty from the law of Northern
The carrying out of an execution, the first
in Hong Kong since 1966 would be in sharp contrast
to what is being said and done here.
SR 1973
CONFIDENTIAL
The Governor/
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