TNAG-2318-FCO40-3362-Petitions-from-members-of-the-public-regarding-Hong-Kong-1991 — Page 80

murder on 3 April 1980. As Mok was seventeen years old at the time of the offence, he was sentenced to be detained

pending Her Majesty's pleasure. He has spent six years in

prison so far.

5. Mok has petitioned the Governor himself for clemency five times in 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1988. All of these petitions were denied. Mok's case was last reviewed by the Board of Review, Long Term Prison Sentences, on 29 June 1990

when the Board found that there were no circumstances

warranting a recommendation of an early release.

6. Mrs Li's petition asks for Mok's release on the grounds that he regrets the crime and has already been punished enough. The reports of the Commissioner of Police and the

Commissioner of Correctional Services however indicate that

there are no grounds to justify Mok's early release, or the

setting of a determinate sentence. A report of the Probation Officer on the welfare of Mok's family also concludes that there are no immediate social grounds to substantiate the petition. The Governor has approved the

conclusions of these reports and has recommended that the

Queen be advised to reject the petition.

7.

The Hong Kong Attorney General has been consulted. He has advised that since the petition asks for clemency solely on compassionate grounds it involves no legal issues which might justify the granting of an early release. The

petition has also been considered by our Legal Adviser who

concurs.

WINAIN/2