Hong Kong’s High Court has declared self-exiled activist Ted Hui bankrupt for failing to pay costs of legal proceedings involving him.
The former lawmaker, who left Hong Kong in November 2020, is among 13 self-exiled pro-democracy activists accused of breaching the Beijing-imposed national security law.
High Court Master Kent Yee issued the bankruptcy order against Hui on Tuesday, saying the activist had “never responded” to requests that he pay for legal proceedings against him. Hui was not represented at the hearing.
The bankruptcy petition was filed last November.
Hui was found guilty in June 2022 of four counts of contempt of court over his absence from legal proceedings after he left the city while on bail. He was handed a three-and-a-half year jail term in absentia that September and ordered to pay legal costs for the proceedings.
Hui was also previously ordered to pay legal costs for two private prosecutions over a police shooting and a taxi driver who drove into a crowd of protesters, and a court application to reveal chemical ingredients of tear gas used by the police in 2019.
‘Political oppression’
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Hui said the bankruptcy order did not affect his life in Australia, and dismissed it as a “cheap trick,” adding that he did not owe the government “a single cent.”
“Political oppression begins as a fabricated debt, then the draconian national security law is used to freeze bank accounts, which then leads to a bankruptcy order as a political effect,” Hui wrote.
Since his departure in 2020, Hui has also been charged with secession and collusion with foreign forces under the Beijing-imposed national security law.
He was also accused of inciting Hongkongers to boycott the 2021 legislature election after the system was subject to a Beijing-decreed overhaul.
Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution in June 2020 following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts – broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers and led to hundreds of arrests amid new legal precedents, while dozens of civil society groups disappeared. The authorities say it restored stability and peace to the city, rejecting criticism from trade partners, the UN and NGOs.
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