A senior civil servant of the Cultural Affairs Bureau (ICM) was arrested on Tuesday for breach of confidentiality by providing internal information to a media organisation and posting the information on the website of the Chief Executive’s Office last month, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokeswoman Lei Hon Nei said at a regular press conference yesterday.
The 36-year-old local man suspect surnamed Lou joined the Cultural Affairs Bureau (ICM) in 2011.
According to Lei, the bureau reported the case to the Judiciary Police on March 12, according to which Lou provided internal confidential information about a construction project to a Chinese-language media organisation on March 10. Afterwards, he posted the same information on the Chief Executive Office’s website on March 15.
Lei said the Judiciary Police went to Lou’s home on Tuesday and took him to a police station for questioning. Lou refused to cooperate with the police. PJ officers seized from his computer a digital file of the information Lou had leaked. The date of the file he saved was “before March 10,” Lei said, adding that Lou was in charge of managing the bureau’s confidential files.
Lei said that as Lou is currently on leave, for the time being he hasn’t been suspended from his duties.
Lou faces a breach of confidentiality charge. The case has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) for follow-up investigation, according to Lei.
Concept image of breach of confidentiality – Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
