Two officers who blocked a cameraman from filming during Vice-Premier Li Keqiang's controversial visit to the city last year will face a disciplinary hearing and could be sacked, and top officers may have to account for their actions, the police watchdog said yesterday.
The Independent Police Complaints Council said it had asked officers up to the rank of senior superintendent to justify their security decisions for the August visit as it released an interim report on the investigation of 16 complaints, covering 40 allegations of wrongdoing. The report has been passed to the chief executive and will also be sent to the Legislative Council.
It endorsed the findings of the Complaints Against Police Office (Capo) on nine of the complaints and ordered further investigation in six more. It cannot act on the final complaint yet as it is still subject to legal proceedings. Ten allegations were substantiated, it found.
The council says it wants to talk to more senior officers, and is demanding the force reveal documents relating to security arrangements and operational commands for the visit. It did not rule out holding some senior officers accountable for the problems.
In the case of the Now TV cameraman, whose lens was blocked by the hands of a sergeant and senior police constable as he filmed four men in black suits removing a resident of the Laguna City estate in Kwun Tong, IPCC chairman Jat Sew-tong said Capo reached its conclusion after a reconstruction of the scene.
'Capo did not accept the explanation of the two officers, who said their hands were stuck on the camera ... it could not be the case,' he said.