In this file photo dated April 3, 2023, a billboard promoting National Security Education Day is seen outside a pier in Central, Hong Kong, as the city prepares to mark the day on April 15. (ANDY CHONG / CHINA DAILY)

HONG KONG - The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government on Wednesday strongly disapproved of the British Broadcasting Corporation's misleading report about remission of sentence under the new Safeguarding National Security Ordinance and the fact-twisting remarks made by anti-China organizations and wanted persons having absconded overseas.

It is necessary for the HKSAR government to make a clarification to set the record straight, a spokesperson for the HKSAR government said.

The spokesperson emphasized that no matter whether before or after the ordinance comes into effect, the granting of early release is never a necessary right to prisoners. 

A spokesperson for the HKSAR government said that there have been cases in which prisoners convicted of offenses endangering national security absconded or continued to carry out acts and activities endangering national security when they were granted early release under supervision

It is the duty of the Commissioner of Correctional Services to strictly enforce any prison sentence imposed by the court on each prisoner. Any discretion to grant early release of prisoners must be exercised in accordance with the law.

The spokesperson said that there have been cases in which prisoners convicted of offenses endangering national security absconded or continued to carry out acts and activities endangering national security when they were granted early release under supervision. 

In order to safeguard national security and protect the public, it is necessary to impose more stringent restrictions on the granting of early release to prisoners involved in offenses endangering national security. This arrangement will not change the sentences imposed by the court on persons who have committed offenses endangering national security. As such, it is not a question of whether this will in effect increase the sentences, the spokesperson said.

"The enforcement of sentences has always been under the purview of the executive authorities. The Commissioner of Correctional Services will enforce the relevant provisions and exercise discretion in strict accordance with the power vested by the law after taking into account the actual circumstances and all related factors of each case, including representations by the persons in custody, in order to ensure all cases are fairly dealt with," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said that the BBC cited accusations by anti-China organizations while turning a blind eye to the United Kingdom's Terrorist Offenders (Restriction of Early Release) Act 2020 which tightens the threshold for eligibility for the parole of offenders convicted of terrorist offenses, demonstrating complete double standards. 

The HKSAR government strongly condemns their act, the spokesperson said.