Number of people on remand in Hong Kong jails hits 24-year high
But those serving sentences for national security, anti-government protest offences have dropped for first time
The number of people remanded in Hong Kong hit a 24-year peak in 2024, surpassing the previous high the year before by 18 per cent, while prisoners serving jail sentences for national security and anti-government protest offences dropped for the first time.
Wong Kwok-hing, commissioner of the Correctional Services Department, said on Thursday the expanded population behind bars also posed “formidable challenges” to both the administration and security of his facilities.
“Very often due to the rise in the penal population, the number of disciplinary offences has also risen,” he said.
The prisons chief did not explain what was behind the rise in the number of people on remand in the city when questioned by reporters.
Wong also revealed during the annual review that instead of amending the law to ban people who remained under a supervision order from travelling abroad, authorities only required these individuals to seek approval before leaving the city.
The prisons chief said last February that he would look into banning those on supervised release from leaving the city after activist Tony Chung Hon-lam sought political asylum in the United Kingdom while under such an order in 2023.