THE Legislative Council (LegCo) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) postponed a meeting slated Wednesday to discuss the amendments to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance, as a riot broke out around the LegCo building.

HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam strongly condemned the violence and called for peaceful expression of different views.

The LegCo president “has decided that the (Legislative) Council meeting of June 12 will not be held today. Announcement will be made once the president determines the time of the meeting,” the LegCo Secretariat announced Wednesday afternoon.

The meeting, originally scheduled at 11 a.m., planned to discuss the Fugitive Offenders & Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill. The bill, tabled by the HKSAR Government at the LegCo in April, aims to fill loopholes in HKSAR’s existing legal framework concerning mutual legal assistance in criminal matters.

Describing what happened as a “sad scene,” Lam condemned the riot in a videotaped speech broadcast Wednesday evening.

“The riots which undermined social peace and disregarded laws and regulations cannot be tolerated by any civilized, law-based society. It is very clear that this is no longer a peaceful assembly, but a blatant and organized riot,” Lam said.

“Hong Kong is a free, open and diverse society where people have different views on anything. But there is a bottom line for expressing opinions. If radical and violent means can be used to achieve the goal, these scenes will only become more and more fierce and will certainly bring harm to Hong Kong,” she said.

“I appeal to all the people who love Hong Kong to stay away from violence,” she said, adding that “I am convinced that Hong Kong, a civilized society, can solve any problem in a peaceful, rational and law-abiding manner for the sake of Hong Kong’s overall interests.” (Xinhua)