E-mail to Your Friend(s)Print Friendly

Human Rights Lawyer on Press Freedom

World-renowned Human Rights lawyer, Geoffrey Robertson QC, spoke as a guest of the Research Centre for Human Values on 28 February, urging the government to protect press freedom, which he said is 'a most important sinew of a free society'.

The lawyer, who has represented Julian Assange and former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, delivered a lecture titled 'State Secrecy: Manning, Assange and Snowden' to a full capacity audience at the CUHK Faculty of Law Graduate Centre in Central.

The event, which was held in partnership with the Faculty of Law and the Hong Kong Academy of the Humanities, attracted over 150 members of the public and VIPs, including the University Provost Prof. Benjamin W. Wah.

During the two hour event, Robertson noted that Hong Kong 'desperately lacks' a Freedom of Information Law, which is something 'any civilized and quasi-democratic society must have'. He also condemned the recent attack on former Ming Pao editor Lau Chun-to Kevin. 'Killing the messenger, or maiming the messenger in this case, is something that a free society simply cannot tolerate', said Robertson, and urged decisive action. 'The government must throw every resource at first of all finding and prosecuting his assailants', he said.

Prof. Simon Haines, director of the Centre, said, 'We are thrilled to have hosted Geoffrey Robertson QC in Hong Kong at the most important time for freedom of the press and information in the region.'