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Following is the transcript of remarks made by the Commissioner of Police, Mr Dick Lee Ming-kwai, during a meet-the-media session after attending the Asian Securitex Conference 2004 today (June 16).
Reporter: What is the latest progress on the investigation into the double rape cases in Tai Mo Shan? How confident are the Police about arresting the person who committed the offence?
CP¡G First of all, I want to stress that these are very serious cases. They may affect the confidence of our local residents as well as tourists coming to visit Hong Kong. The Tai Mo Shan case is now being handled by the Regional Crime Unit of New Territories South Region. We are now looking at all possible evidence available at the scene as well as from the victims and the local community to see whether we can lead to a detection of the case. I can promise you that we will make full efforts to protect the life and property of people in Hong Kong and our visitors. We will do our best to detect this case.
Reporter : Do you think the case will affect Hong Kong's image?
CP¡G Not at the moment, because overall security in Hong Kong is still in a very good status. When you talk about robbery, we are talking about two reported cases per day less than the average of last year. When you talk about burglary, there are about four reported cases less than the daily average of last year. As far as cases of rape of tourists are concerned, we only have two cases, including the one that took place on Sunday. So it is extremely safe in Hong Kong. But my worry is that it might affect the confidence of people here in Hong Kong and of our visitors.
Reporter :On the July 1 march, you seem to be holding a talk with the organiser.Any details ?
CP¡G We have been talking to the organiser for some time now. We came to an agreement on the gathering point, the route as well as the number of people who are expected to take part. The latest discussion is on the issue of the destination. We draw our experience from last year's event. The compound of the Central Government Office is too small to accommodate all participants. Last year, only a small number of people went up to the Central Government Office while the majority dispersed at Ice House Street and Queen's Road Central, where major public transport facilities are available. So base on that, we advise the organiser to seriously consider using Ice House Street and Queen's Road Central as a dispersal point. But we also expect a number of participants to go up to the CGO Compound as well.
Reporter : Mr Lee, I would like to ask a question about the forged application forms to the Registration and Electoral Office. What is the latest development on it?
CP¡G We have received a number of suspected application forms from the Registration and Electoral Office. So far we have gone through most of them. In only a small number of them, we suspect there might be cases of forgery. So we are following up the investigation. In a couple of cases, we have already brought back suspects for further enquiries. But so far we have not detected widespread mal-practice in this particular area.
Reporter : You mentioned that the Police brought back suspects. How many suspects are the Police actually questioning in connection with the forgery case?
CP¡G As the investigation is still on going, I am not in a position to tell you details. But I can reassure you that we will do our best to investigate this type of mal-practices. It may affect the confidence of people in Hong Kong in our electoral system. That is why we take the matter so seriously.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript)
Police Report No. 4
Issued by PPRB
End/1745 hrs, Wednesday, June 16, 2004
