ทเวน GOVT ROUSE
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香港布政司署
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF SECRETA
GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT HONG KONG
9 March 1990
The Chief Secretary, Government Secretariat
presents his compliments to the Consul General of Costa Rica
and Doyen of the Consular Corps and has the honour to
acknowledge the Doyen's note No. 21/90 dated 6 March 1990 concerning the arrest of the Acting Consul-General of Venezuela.
The Chief Secretary wishes to assure the Doven and the Consular Corps that the arrest of a consular officer and head of mission is not a step which would be taken without the most careful consideration of all the factors and also without the fullest consultation with Her Majesty's Government in London. The Hong Kong authorities have acted in this matter in accordance with Article 41 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and a decision of the competent judicial authority, namely the Chief Magistrate of Hong Kong.
The Chief Secretary also desires to inform the Doyen of the Consular Corps that inquiries by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) are continuing, and it is not the practice of the Hong Kong authorities to comment on ICAC operational investigations. For this last reason, no statement has been made by the Director of Protocol conerning the arrest of the Acting Consul-General of Venezuela. The only statement on the matter was made by the ICAC in response to media queries following what was assumed to be a statement from the Venezuelan authorities that the Acting Consul-General had been arrested. The ICAC statement confirmed that the arrest had been made and that an investization was continuing into a suspected offence under the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance. The offence in question is a grave erine within the meaning of the Vienna Convention.
The Consul-General of Costa Rica
and Doyen of the Consular Corps Consulate General of Costa Rica Flat C-10
Hung On Building
3 Tin Hau Temple Road
Hong Kong
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