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HKU council controversy
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Professor Lo Chung-mau collapsed to the floor on Tuesday night. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Video | ‘It’s an insult’: HKU professor denies 'diving like a cheating soccer player' when students stormed council meeting

Surgeon Lo Chung-mau says he has a weak knee and feels 'insulted' by claims he feigned injury

A member of the University of Hong Kong's governing body who collapsed on Tuesday night after students stormed its meeting made a complaint of assault to police, while denying "diving" like a cheating football player.

Medical professor Lo Chung-mau, who supported a deferral in appointing liberal scholar Professor Johannes Chan Man-mun to an HKU managerial post, called it an "insult" to suggest he feigned injury amid the shouting and shoving inside the meeting room.

"I was only looking at what was in front," he said. "Then I felt my right knee seemed to have struck something. It felt like someone had kicked me. It hurt."

Watch: HKU professor collapses as students storm council meeting

Lo, head of HKU's surgery department, said the knee was weak as it had been operated on before for an injury.

Following his collapse, he was escorted away from the mayhem and taken to Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam, where a doctor said his knee was bruised and swollen. According to police, crime-squad officers interviewed Lo at the hospital after he lodged the report of assault.

Lo complained he was kicked in the leg, a police source said. He also alleged someone hurled a bottle of water towards him while he was being carried into an ambulance. The Western district crime squad is treating the cases as "alleged assault" and "common assault".

A DMHK News video posted on YouTube showed Lo standing among the crowd of students who had just forced their way into the HKU council's meeting room before his legs gave way. All those within his vicinity were facing the same direction. Lo's face was expressionless as he fell.

The online reaction yesterday was merciless, with posters who accused Lo of being a malingerer uploading parodies of the incident. Some placed images of soccer players who had dived to the ground next to a photo of Lo lying on his side and holding one of his knees, his eyes half closed.

HKU council member and students' union president Billy Fung Jing-en said the students near Lo had denied touching the professor. He expressed sympathy for Lo's condition.

Television footage captured a bottle being lobbed at Lo as he was taken to an ambulance, but the thrower's identity was unclear. Non-student protesters were milling outside the block that housed the meeting venue.

Meanwhile, the university responded to students' concerns about the presence of police after the storming, including the appearance of several police vehicles along with officers equipped with warning flags normally used at violent confrontations.

A spokesman said an employee had asked a security guard to seek police help as protesters were blocking the car park entrance of the block, preventing two ambulances from picking up Lo and another council member.

"The university maintains it is an act of common courtesy to assist anyone who does not feel well to get timely treatment."

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: University professor goes to police with assault report
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