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Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2006 18:28:10 -0400
To: TSCM-L <TSCM-..._at_googlegroups.com>
From: "James M. Atkinson" <jm..._at_tscm.com>
Subject: `Long Hair' dials high-tech help in battle of the bugs
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http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=11&art_id=17393&sid=7664727&con_type=1
`Long Hair' dials high-tech help in battle of the bugs
For years, independent legislator and self-proclaimed Marxist "Long
Hair" Leung Kwok-hung has suspected the government or mainland
authorities of tapping his phone lines and eavesdropping on his
political activities.
Jonathan Cheng
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
For years, independent legislator and self-proclaimed Marxist "Long
Hair" Leung Kwok-hung has suspected the government or mainland
authorities of tapping his phone lines and eavesdropping on his
political activities.
But Tuesday, Leung said he could substantiate his allegations,
picking up his office phone in the West Wing of the Central
Government Offices and pointing to a small plastic device with a
flashing red light - "The BugSmasher" - he had attached to his phone.
"See? You can hear this faint noise on the line," he told reporters
as he listened through the receiver. That noise and the red light on
The BugSmasher, he said, were proof that his two office phone lines
were being tapped.
"I'm being bugged now, and it doesn't have to go through the courts,
so there are no records," said Leung, a long-time activist. "The
government needs to respond to this."
The administration, which typically answers Leung's charges and
complaints with silence, moved quickly Tuesday to defuse Leung's allegations.
"It's not the first time that this kind of accusation has been made,"
said Secretary for Security Ambrose Lee Siu-kwong. Lee said the
government has conducted itself within the law at all times, and
insisted that law enforcement officers would not eavesdrop on anyone
for political reasons.
"It's nonsense," Leung said. "I don't want his official statements.
What he says means absolutely nothing.
"He's just repeating the proper government line."
But Leung has said repeatedly that the government has never had a
legal basis for wiretapping and eavesdropping on its citizens,
demanding that Lee publicly apologize for what he describes as years
of reckless and unlawful wiretapping on private citizens.
Leung plans to demand a response from Chief Executive Donald Tsang
Yam-kuen today.
In February, Leung won a landmark judicial review in High Court
overturning the constitutionality of the government's covert operations.
The verdict, written by Justice Michael Hartmann, issued a fierce
indictment of the administration's current practices but gave the
government a controversial six-month "extension of validity" to grant
the government time to enact a proper law.
Leung will appear in the Court of Appeal today to appeal that ruling.
The government has said that if Leung wins and the wiretapping is
forced to stop immediately, the safety of Hong Kong citizens would be
greatly compromised.
But Leung says the government dragged its feet for almost a decade on
the issue, insisting that its practices were constitutional, even
without a law explicitly outlining the parameters of covert
operations. The administration is now rushing to pass another law
through Legislative Council before the "extension of validity" lapses
when legislators take their summer recess.
Leung has been a vocal critic of many provisions in the government's
current draft bill, pushing for a notification mechanism that would
inform targets after cases are closed that they had been the subject
of covert operations.
The government, however, has refused to budge on that suggestion.
Democratic Party founder and legislator Martin Lee Chu-ming and
outspoken lawmaker Albert Cheng Jing- han, have also made public
their suspicions of being wiretapped.
Leung also voiced suspicions that he has been followed for many years.
"I admit I don't have any evidence, and it's just a feeling I have,"
he said. "I don't want to say this really, since it will make me seem
like I'm making things up, but it's been happening, on and off, for a
long time."
When asked how long he thought he was being followed, Leung replied:
"Twenty-odd years."
Florida-based TelstarOne Communications sells The BugSmasher for
US$130 (HK$1,014) on its Web site, claiming that it can "actually
defeat telephone bugging and tapping attempts."
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We Expertly Hunt Real Spies, Real Eavesdroppers, and Real Wiretappers.
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James M. Atkinson Phone: (978) 546-3803
Granite Island Group Fax: (978) 546-9467
127 Eastern Avenue #291 Web:
http://www.tscm.com/
Gloucester, MA 01931-8008 Email: mailto:jm..._at_tscm.com
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Received on Sat Mar 02 2024 - 00:57:25 CST