A discount store employee's use of a chokehold and demand for identification papers while detaining a suspected shoplifter in Sham Shui Po have ignited online debate over whether private citizens have the legal right to demand identification documents.
A 58-second video circulating on Monday (Jul 13) shows a male employee at the discount store restraining a South Asian man on Fuk Wa Street. The date and time of the incident were not specified.
The video shows the employee wrapping his right arm around the man's neck, pressing a walkie-talkie against his face and chest, and shouting profanities while demanding that the suspect provide identification.
It then shows the man reluctantly producing a "Form 8" recognizance paper, a document commonly issued to non-refoulement claimants in Hong Kong. The employee then told his colleague, "It's Form 8, he's a refugee." He later ordered the man to "stay here," checked the document, and demanded to see his money while keeping a hand on the man's chest to prevent him from escaping.
Under Hong Kong law, only police officers and Immigration Department officers have the statutory power to require a person to produce identity documents. While private citizens may, in limited circumstances, carry out a citizen's arrest for an arrestable offence, they generally have no legal authority to demand identification documents. Private citizens who compel someone to produce identity documents may risk exceeding their lawful authority and infringing on that person's rights.
