(Video) Suspicious powder sent to Shatin and West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts

Letters containing suspicious powder were sent to Shatin and West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on Tuesday morning, with at least 30 staffers evacuated.

They were addressed to deputy district judge Kathie Cheung Kit-yee and magistrate Pang Leung-ting, both of whom having handled unrest cases recently, sources said.

Police's bomb squad and firefighters were called to the scenes, alongside a Hazmat Tenders for handling incidents involving hazardous materials. They cordoned off parts of the building before lifting the cordon in the afternoon.

The West Kowloon court received the letter sent to Cheung at 11.17 am on Tuesday. Foul smell was emitted from the letter, and 30 staffers on the third floor of the court building were evacuated. 

A person working on the third floor said that a colleague received the letter in the morning. Around 30 persons were evacuated to the ground floor, and were allowed to leave after leaving personal information and confirming they did not touch the powder, the person said.

The third floor of the building, where juvenile courts are located, were cordoned off by the police. Three courtrooms on the fourth floor were also affected. The cordon was lifted by 1pm and the evacuated staff gradually returned to work.

It was understood that Cheung received a similar letter last Thursday, on which swear words were written and white powder was put in a separate envelope.

In October, Cheung sentenced each of five Chinese University students to nearly five years of imprisonment after convicting them of rioting during the siege of the campus in November 2019.

Last week, Pang sentenced a university student to 10 months in jail, and a young engineer to 11 months' imprisonment for assaulting two police constables at a Tsuen Wan mall on October 13, 2019.

Due to the emergency, the Judiciary had to close the registry and accounts office of the West Kowloon court, and the registry, accounts office and the bailiff office of the Shatin court temporarily due to the emergency. The offices were reopened at 2.30pm.

Court proceedings and other court business of both magistrates' courts were not affected.

The Department of Justice “strongly deplores” recent cases of criminal intimidation against judges, and said offenders will be brought to justice.

“Intimidation against judges and judicial officers is unacceptable to Hong Kong as a society which observes the rule of law. In any event that unlawful means is used with an aim to exert influence over court proceedings, the Hong Kong SAR government will take the case seriously and spare no effort in bringing the culprit to justice in order to safeguard the due administration of the judicial process and public peace,” it stated.

Under the Crimes Ordinance, anyone who threatens any other person with injury shall be liable to imprisonment for five years.