Hong Kong Court Orders Lawmakers to Lose Seats Over Changing Oath While Sworn In

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to the South China Morning Post, the court decided that the conduct of Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang and Yau Wai-ching at the swearing ceremony meant they declined to take oaths, therefore they must lose their seats. The court also ruled that no second oath-taking could be organized.

The judge stressed that Leung and Yau did not recognize the principle of "one country, two systems" and the importance of "one country."

On October 5, six Hong Kong pro-democracy activists, who were behind the September 2014 protest movements in the city and are seeking greater autonomy from China, were elected to the Legislative Council. At a swearing ceremony on October 12, two of them changed the wording of the oaths. Following the incident, it was announced that the Basic Law could be interpreted that had already caused mass rallies of thousands of protesters in Hong Kong.

The interpretation of the Basic Law's Article 104 said that if an elected official, during the oath-taking process, violates the process accepted by law, or declines to swear in, he could not assume the office and could bear legal responsibility.

China gained sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997. The region was granted legal, economic and political autonomy from Beijing under the "one country, two systems" principle formulated by Chairman of the Central Advisory Commission of the Communist Party of China Deng Xiaoping in early 1980s.