The High Court has rejected the request of localist politicians Yau Wai-ching and Baggio Leung Chung-hang in their final bid to overturn the court’s decision to disqualify them from the legislature.
On Monday, the duo spoke to media outside the court to announce its decision. They said they would be appealing to the Court of Final Appeal directly.
The pair were kicked out of the Legislative Council after they protested during their oath-taking ceremonies last October, displaying a “Hong Kong is not China” flag and changing the wording of their oaths in a way some deemed insulting to Chinese people.
The government subsequently lodged a legal challenge against them, and won at the Court of First Instance on November 15 and the Court of Appeal on November 30.
Leung said the outcome was expected. He added that they would be submitting new legal arguments to the court, though he declined to disclose them.
The ousted lawmaker said they would be instructing Senior Counsel Gladys Li and a Queen’s Counsel from the UK.
The pair are seeking donations of HK$5 million from the public to fund their appeal case. On Monday, they said they have raised HK$550,000 so far. They previously said that they must secure HK$1.6 million to pay the deposit for the Court of Final Appeal, or the court would not hear the appeal.
Leung did not directly respond to questions about what they would do with the amount raised if they could not meet their targets.
