Nine Hong Kong student organisations slam Baptist University for ‘suppressing freedom’ by suspending duo over protest
Fifth-year undergraduate Andrew Chan says calling his conduct ‘indecent’ is unfair, while governing council member says eight-day suspension is too lenient
But Roger Wong Hoi-fung, a member of the university’s governing council, countered that Baptist University was already being too lenient by only suspending Chan for eight days.
In January, Chan and former student union president Lau Tsz-Kei, 20, were among about 30 students who stormed the university’s language centre demanding that management scrap the Mandarin requirement and calling for greater transparency around an exemption test.
On Monday, the pair warned of a chilling effect on the right to dissent as they were disciplined for a second time over their role in the protest. Lau was suspended from classes for one semester and Chan, a Chinese medicine student, was barred for eight days.
It was determined that Chan, a fifth-year student, had already served his suspension, as the university initially suspended the pair in late January but lifted the punishment as public criticism mounted.