TNAG-0400-FCO40-446-Review-of-the-death-sentence-in-Hong-Kong-1973 — Page 44

'É

CONFIDENTIAL

Secretary of State

าม

Pmalé Secuvay

DEATH SENTENCE TSOI KWOK-CHEONG

1. The Secretary of State in his telegram No 447 to the

Governor of Hong Kong asked for Tsoi to be psychiatrically

examined. This has been done. The Governor's report

says that a panel of psychiatrists regard Tsoi as showing

no signs of mental abnormality.

2. At a meeting on 10 May Mr Royle informed officials that

the Secretary of State had decided that Tsoi should be

reprieved and asked that this submission with the necessary

documentation for transmission to The Queen be prepared.

It was the intention to which Sir M MacLehose assented, that

the announcement of the reprieve would follow very closely

the decision of Parliament on death sentences in Northern

Ireland which would be announced on 14 May. No reason for

the reprieve would be given, but it was inevitable that there

would be a connexion in the public mind between the two events.

3. Officials considered that the consequence of this linking

of the two events would be that

(a) since the decision would be seen to be related to the

political situation in the United Kingdom the position

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CONFIDENTIAL

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