TNAG-0402-FCO40-448-Review-of-the-death-sentence-in-Hong-Kong-1973 — Page 62

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Rias Kell

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CONFIDENTIAL

His Excellency

Sir Murray MacLehose KCMG MBE Hong Kong

Latin

to 5.4. Sextrater

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

London S.W.1

257,

24 July 1973

Daw thmiy

Ministers have now given further careful consideration to the question of the death penalty in Hong Kong, following the reprieve of Tsoi. They have agreed to take no steps to abolish the death penalty in Hong Kong against your clear advice and the apparently strong desire of the people of Hong Kong that it be retained.

They stressed, however, that great care should continue to be taken in Hong Kong in considering reprieves. Reference had been made to the growth of violence. It was not clear to what extent there had been a growth of capital crimes, and Ministers asked that detailed figures of such crimes should be obtained. They also asked for an analysis of the grounds on which reprieves had been granted locally in Hong Kong in recent years. This would be useful in considering any cases which might in future be the subject of petitions to The Queen.

1 would be very grateful if these analyses could be put in hand as soon as possible. I suggest that the appropriate base year would be 1966. On the crime figures, perhaps you could bring up-to-date and expand, as necessary, the table enclosed with your letter to me of 8 March 1973.

У пока,

tinca

(Duncan Watson)

CONFIDENTIAL