Joshua Law says 31 civil servants suspended for 'public interest'

Secretary for the Civil Service, Joshua Law Chi-kong, said today as of end last year, among the 41 civil servants arrested for taking part in "illegal public activities," 31 have been suspended, while the rest are still being investigated.

Law said  41 civil servants were arrested between June and December, but he did not say if any of them have been charged with an offense, RTHK reports.

He said 31 were suspended from duties – or "interdicted" – for the sake of public interest.

"They have been suspended from service ... or interdicted. But in the event that they are convicted by the court, then we will go into initiate (sic) disciplinary action and the result could be a sacking, or it could be a warning depending on the severity of the punishment," said Law.

“We suspend them due to reasons of public interest. We are concerned whether it’s appropriate for an arrested civil servant to go back to work and exercise their public power and duty ... it’s also about how the public thinks and feels about them going back to work,” he said.

As for the remaining 10 arrested, Law said their respective departments were following up on the matter.

But the civil service chief said those arrested accounted for only a small portion of the 180,000-strong civil service.

He also sidestepped questions as to whether the government is adopting double standards in its handling of staff unions, after the Union for New Civil Servants was admonished for criticising police tactics. The government had said the union should refrain from criticising government policies or enforcement operations by individual departments.-Photo: RTHK

The union then issued a statement saying that the government had said nothing when police unions targeted Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung and accused the government of siding with police associations.

Law did not give a direct answer to the question, but said the government would follow up on all views and complaints expressed.-Photo: RTHK