ABOUT 100 local Falun Gong practitioners marched to the SAR Government Headquarters yesterday, seeking talks with Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa a day after he had labelled the sect ``undoubtedly'' an evil cult.
But a spokesman said the sect had no intention of suing Mr Tung for his ``libellous'' remarks, despite a suggestion from a lawyer that they could do so if the SAR leader repeated them outside the Legislative Council.
Meanwhile, it emerged that the government has teamed up with the Central Government Liaison Office to step up pressure on the sect amid calls from Beijing leaders for a law to ban it.
Practitioners marched from Chater Garden about 2pm and handed over a petition seeking ``dialogue'' with Mr Tung. Spokesmen from the Chief Executive's Office and the Security Bureau said Mr Tung and officials had did not plan to meet sect members at the moment.
In their letter to Mr Tung, the practitioners expressed ``serious concern, deep regrets and strong objection'' to his remarks, made during a Legislative Council question-and-answer session.
They said his words were ``derogatory, unfair, libellous and groundless'' and accused Mr Tung of violating the ``freedom of conscience'' principle, expressing surprise that neither he nor his officials would meet them.
The Human Rights Monitor accused Mr Tung of committing ``a serious breach of the Basic Law and intentionally guaranteed rights'' with his latest attack on the sect.
It exemplified ``a growing trend of religious and political intolerance within the upper ranks of the government,'' the rights group said.
It called on Mr Tung to stand up for the rights of SAR people ``instead of making continual attacks on the group that are unjustified and puerile''.
Mr Tung's remarks to Legco are seen as a means of appeasing central leaders without enacting legislation that could affect his standing here before his re-election bid next year.
A source said the government would adopt tougher ``executive measures'' against the sect such as continuing to bar its overseas practitioners who are on a blacklist provided by Beijing and closely monitoring local members.
At the same time the Liaison Office would co-ordinate attacks by pro-Beijing organisations on the sect.
The source said during his visit last month, President Jiang Zemin had ``scolded'' Mr Tung for not banning the sect, already outlawed by Beijing.
Sect spokeswoman Hui Cheung Yee-han said local members already faced harassment
when they attempted to distribute leaflets and were misunderstood by their family and friends. Thirty-three members could no longer continue with their businesses on the mainland because their home-return permits had been confiscated.
The Chief Executive's Office said it would reply to the petition later.
Information Co-ordinator Stephen Lam Sui-lung said Mr Tung had made his remarks to express the government's ``firm commitment'' to maintain peace and public order under the Basic Law.
Asked if Mr Tung was afraid to enact an anti-cult law because it might affect his re-election chances, Mr Lam said it had ``nothing to do with that suggestion''. Mr Tung had reiterated many times that he had yet decide whether to stand for a second term and would make a decision and announcement ``at the appropriate time''.
Bar Association chairman Alan Leong Kah-kit said Mr Tung's comments were exempt from any defamation action because of legislative privilege. But if he repeated them elsewhere any sect member could sue him.
Sect spokesman Kan Hung-cheung said Mr Tung's criticism had no sound legal basis, as there was no definition of an evil cult.
``We are a spiritual body and not a political organisation,'' he said, adding: ``We have no plan to sue Mr Tung for defaming us.''