Two Social Democrats convicted of assault
Two League of Social Democrats members, lawmaker 'Long Hair' Leung Kwok-hung and district councillor Andrew To Kwan-hang, were convicted yesterday of assaulting a police officer.
Magistrate Rickie Chan Kam-cheong deemed the pair had used 'illegal force' outside Government House at a protest during the visit of a top Beijing official when they scuffled with police on December 29 last year.
Leung told the court he 'meant to resist and not to assault police' when an officer attempted to put out a fire in a tyre. He said he was assaulted by a police officer who sprayed a fire extinguisher directly in his face and that such violence was unnecessary.
He said the prosecution had charged him unfairly, intending to sully his reputation by painting him as an activist who used violence against police.
The magistrate said that the motive for the assaults was irrelevant as the scuffle itself had constituted illegal use of force in the context against police officers, who he ruled were exercising their duty.
He considered the police moves to put out the fire were reasonable, necessary and proportionate given the potential danger caused to the crowd gathered.
Leung and To, with about 12 people from the League of Social Democrats, including its chairman Wong Yuk-man, staged a protest outside the court yesterday.
About 700 protesters marched on December 29 to Government House, where National People's Congress Standing Committee deputy secretary general, Qiao Xiaoyang, was to explain Beijing's decision to rule out universal suffrage in 2012.
A scuffle ensued when a police officer tried to put out a fire started by Leung and To. To allegedly shoved an officer and Leung pushed an officer in the chest, causing him to fall and hit his head. The magistrate acquitted To on another charge of assaulting a sergeant.
Leung said he would appeal against the conviction.
The magistrate requested a community service report on each man before sentence on January 16.
