'Govt has suspended 31 civil servants already'

'Govt has suspended 31 civil servants already'

Timmy Sung reports

Civil Service Secretary Joshua Law said on Friday that 31 civil servants who were arrested by police on suspicion of activities linked to anti-government protests have already been suspended.



Law said 41 civil servants were arrested between June and December, but he did not say if any of them have been charged with an offence.



He said 31 were suspended from duties – or "interdicted" – for the sake of public interest.



"They have been suspended from service ... or interdicted. But in the event that they are convicted by the court, then we will go into initiate [sic] disciplinary action and the result could be a sacking, or it could be a warning depending on the severity of the punishment," said Law.



“We suspend them due to reasons of public interest. We are concerned whether it’s appropriate for an arrested civil servant to go back to work and exercise their public power and duty ... it’s also about how the public thinks and feels about them going back to work,” he said.



As for the remaining 10 arrested, Law said their respective departments were following up on the matter.



But the civil service chief said those arrested accounted for only a small portion of the 180,000-strong civil service.



He also sidestepped questions as to whether the government is adopting double standards in its handling of staff unions, after the Union for New Civil Servants was admonished for criticising police tactics. The government had said the union should refrain from criticising government policies or enforcement operations by individual departments.



The union then issued a statement saying that the government had said nothing when police unions targeted Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung and accused the government of siding with police associations.



Law did not give a direct answer to the question, but said the government would follow up on all views and complaints expressed.