The former chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association has reportedly fled the city following a national security law probe by local police.
Paul Harris boarded a flight to the U.K. via Turkey on Tuesday, according to pro-Beijing media «Wen Wei Po» which also published a video of the British citizen at the airport ignoring reporters’ questions.
Separately, a «Reuters» report confirmed the departure of Harris from Hong Kong.
National Security Police
On Tuesday, Harris was reportedly questioned by police from the national security department before he was released and he left for the airport for a late flight out of the city within 12 hours.
The police inquiry was related to his work at the Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor – a non-government organization he founded in 1995 – and alleged violation of the national security law.
«Anti-China Politician»
The former head of the Bar Association from January 2021 until earlier this year has previously been denounced by Beijing’s liaison office as an «anti-China politician» and is notably vocal with regards to concerns about the controversial national security law implemented in 2020.
After being appointed to the role, he addressed the landmark change in Hong Kong’s legal regime and underlined issues such as suspended extradition agreements that enable fugitives, lacking jury trials and new rules that «empower the police to question people about their political opinions».
«Some of the clauses have no problem,» Harris said at the time. «Some will depend on how the court interprets them, and some of them – in my view – cannot be consistent, and these are the ones that I will do my utmost to persuade the government to modify.»
