The Commissioner of Correctional Services submitted a written report to the Court of First Instance on Tuesday, stating that ex-student union councillor Kinson Cheung King-sang should not be granted any remission given he had not “deeply reflected” on his crime or showed genuine remorse.

Cheung, a former student union council chairman of the University of Hong Kong, had applied for a writ of habeas corpus on September 21 arguing for early release.

The prison authorities’ report was submitted soon after a ruling by the Committee for Safeguarding National Security, chaired by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, which stated that giving Cheung early release would not benefit Hong Kong’s national security.

“In view of the actual situation during the period of Cheung’s imprisonment, relevant information and factors, we had made a decision and thereby informed the commissioner that [Cheung]’s conviction in this case involved national security and constituted an offence endangering national security,” the committee said in the ruling, which was also heard in court on Tuesday.