Police force arrests seven of its own over alleged beating of Occupy activist Ken Tsang

Seven suspended policemen alleged to have beaten Civic Party activist Ken Tsang Kin-chiu during violent clashes with protesters in Admiralty last month have been arrested.

The arrests, on suspicion of assault causing actual bodily harm, came a month-and-a-half after the alleged attack on Tsang, a member of the Election Committee that chose Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying in 2012. But police last night denied there had been any attempt to delay the case.

Police also said that Tsang had failed to appear in an identification parade scheduled for yesterday and urged him to cooperate.

Tsang said he did not show up because the arrangements were "unusual" and involved "unresolved" legal issues. He and his lawyer Tanya Chan refused to elaborate on what these issues were.

"At the moment I still [cannot] say I am happy or [feel] safe … but we are willing to do anything to actively cooperate with the police's investigation," Tsang said. He complained about the time it had taken to make the arrests, adding that neither he nor his legal team had been officially informed.

Police said the investigation by the Complaints Against Police Office, with a view to finding if any criminality was involved, was in progress and advice would be sought from the Department of Justice when it was finished.