February 8, 2006 Wednesday

Four Falun Gong practitioners may have been turned away from Hong Kong because their names were on a list provided to the Immigration Department by Beijing, their counsel has speculated.

Barrister Paul Harris told the Court of First Instance such speculation was valid because the government had provided nothing to indicate why the four - Theresa Chu Woan-chyi, Liao Hsiao-lan, Lu Lih-ching and Chang Jenn-yen - were turned away when they arrived in Hong Kong on the night of February 21, 2003.

They were among 83 overseas Falun Gong practitioners, 80 of whom were from Taiwan, refused entry in the lead-up to a conference organised by the Hong Kong Association of Falun Dafa.

"We are working in the dark," Mr Harris said, noting that so far the only thing the department admitted, albeit vaguely, was that the four were refused entry because of "intelligence". "In that respect we have to make our own assessments of what these cryptic references [by Immigration Department witnesses] might mean.

"Obviously the Immigration Department knows a great deal more and they are not telling us," he said, accusing the government of "stonewalling".

Daniel Fung SC, for the government, denied any suggestion he was withholding information and said Mr Harris' use of the word "stonewalling" was disgraceful.

On Monday, Chief Secretary Rafael Hui Si-yan declared that some documents sought by Mr Harris should be kept secret because revealing their contents would be against the public interest.

If Mr Justice Michael Hartmann wanted to review the documents, the court could appoint a special independent advocate to look out for the interests of the four, who, along with their counsel, could not see the files. Mr Fung offered a list of five barristers the government would agree to as special advocates after refusing Mr Harris' request for Bar Association chairman Philip Dykes to be appointed.

The hearing continues today.