§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 14 June,Official Report columns 400–1, which other officials of the Hong Kong Government, including officials of the Law Officers' Department such as Crown prosecuting counsel, visited Malaysia in connection with the affair generally known as Carrian; on what dates; and on how many occasions, and for what purpose in relation to the Carrian investigation Mr. Warwick Reid visited Malaysia.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryThere are very few, if any, visits to Malaysia by members of the Attorney-General's chambers in connection with the Carrian case. Full details could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the view of the credibility of Ibrahim Jaafar as expressed by judges of the Hong Kong High Court from time to time; and whether Mr. Jaafar adhered to the terms of his grant of immunity by co-operating with the relevant Hong Kong authorities.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryMr. Jaafar is a Crown witness in the BMFL trial in Hong Kong. To comment on his credibility would not be right.
§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 14 June,Official Report columns 397–98, on what dates and to whom parts of Mr. Mak's statement was relayed at any other time prior to his trial to parties other than those involved in the investigation.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryWith the exception of the bodies named in my answer of today, this information is not centrally recorded, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 14 June,Official Report column 397, whether it is the policy of the Hong Kong Government to have the contents of statements made by suspects in custody relayed to Government Departments in London.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryThere is no reason why the content of a statement taken by law enforcement agencies in Hong Kong should not be relayed to Government Departments in London if it is in the public interest to do So.
§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the name of the Hong Kong official who granted immunity from prosecution to Mr. Ibrahim Jaafar; and what was the relationship between that official and Mr. Warwick Reid.
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§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryThe immunity was granted by the then Director of Public Prosecutions in Hong Kong in consultation with the Hong Kong Attorney-General. The letter offering immunity was signed by Mr. Reid in his capacity as head of the commercial crimes unit of the prosecutions division of the Attorney-General's chambers.
§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 21 June,Official Report column 99, why Mr. Warwick Reid was dismissed from his post in January 1990; whether Mr. Reid was prosecuted; what process of law was used to obtain the return of Mr. Warwick Reid from the Philippines to Hong Kong; and which Government requested, and which Government executed, that legal process.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryMr. Reid was dismissed from his post in the Attorney-General's chambers when it was discovered that he had breached the conditions of his bail by absconding from Hong Kong. On his return to Hong Kong he was prosecuted, and convicted, for an offence of having in his control pecuniary resources or property disproportionate to his official emoluments contrary to section 10 of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance. Mr. Reid was deported from the Philippines when he was found to have entered that country on a forged travel document and was repatriated to Hong Kong as his last known place of residence in accordance with procedures in the Philippines.
§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list those occasions on which the Malaysian Attorney-General, Mr. Abu Talib, approached his Department or other Government Departments in London, in relation to the prosecution of Lorrain Osman; and if he will list those occasions on which the Malaysian Attorney-General approached Government officials in Hong Kong in relation to the prosecution of Lorrain Osman.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryIt is established practice that exchanges of this kind between Governments are confidential.
§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 14 June,Official Report, columns 397–98, which parties named by Mr. Mak Foon Than were interviewed subsequently in relation to his statement; and on which dates they were interviewed.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryThe following persons named in Mak Foon Than's statement were interviewed by the Royal Hong Kong police:
- George Tan on 9 August 1983;
- Lorrain Osman on three occasions in July and August 1983;
- Henry Chin on seven occasions in July and August 1983 and on one occasion in March 1984;
- Ibrahim Jaafar in August 1983;
- Chueng Suk-Kwan on 8 August 1983;
- Raja Nasron on 15 September 1983;
- Tan Keng-Cheng on 16 September 1983; and
- Lee Chong-Kay on 19 September 1983.
§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the name of the Hong Kong official who made the charges initiated against Mr. Lorrain Osman in 1985; and what was the relationship between that official and Mr. Warwick Reid.
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§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryThe charges against Mr. Lorrain Osman were drafted by counsel having the conduct of the case within the prosecutions division of the Attorney-General's chambers in consultation with leading counsel in London. Mr. Warwick Reid was not directly involved in the charging process other than in his capacity as head of the commercial crimes unit of those chambers in which it is likely that he would have been shown a copy of the charges settled by counsel.
§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 14 June,Official Report, column 397, who advised him of the contents of the statement made by Mr. Mak Foon Than; why that information was relayed to his Department; and what other Government offices, including the United Kingdom high commission in Malaysia, were informed of the contents of Mak Foon Than's statement prior to the trial of Mr. Mak.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryThe Hong Kong Government kept the Foreign and Commonwealth Office informed of the progress of investigations related to the collapse of the Carrian Group and the affairs of Bank Bumiputra and its Hong Kong subsidiary BMFL. Papers connected with these investigations were copied to the Bank of England and to the British high commissioner in Malaysia.
§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether Mr. Warwick Reid was interrogated or questioned or made a voluntary statement in relation to his role in the prosecution of Lorrain Osman at the time of his arrest or subsequently.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryMr. Reid was interviewed in relation to this matter.
§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the number of Vietnamese boat people still being held in detention centres in Hong Kong.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydOn 1 July, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 24,920 Vietnamese migrants in detention centres in Hong Kong.
§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he received a copy of the report of the incidents that took place at the Whitehead detention centre in Hong Kong; and if he will make a statement on that report.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydWe received a summary of the report's main findings and recommendations on 15 June, the day the report was published. We received a copy of the report itself shortly afterwards.
We accept the report's findings and welcome the Hong Kong Government's readiness to act on its recommendations.