Police assault trial of Occupy protester Ken Tsang kicks off in Hong Kong court
The pro-democracy activist denies five charges relating to his arrest as defence disputes integrity of televised footage of October 2014 encounter
The police assault trial of pro-democracy activist Ken Tsang Kin-chiu began on Monday with the Occupy protester denying all five charges and the integrity of television footage relied upon by the prosecution being called into question.
Tsang, 40, pleaded not guilty at Kowloon City Court to one count of assaulting police officers in the due execution of their duties, and four other charges of resisting a police officer.
Prosecutor David Leung Cheuk-yin SC accused Tsang of pouring a scented liquid on 11 police officers on October 15, 2014, before resisting arrest by six officers in the aftermath.
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The alleged offences took place at a planter above the eastern entrance of Lung Wo Road underpass in Admiralty.
The five-day trial opened with Leung indicating the prosecution would rely on two video recordings from Asia Television.
Both the prosecution and defence did not dispute the relevance of the televised footage.
However, the defence questioned whether the two videos had been tampered with and demanded a voir dire to determine their integrity.
Defence counsel Robert Pang Yiu-hung SC said there was no disputing that the footage aired on ATV. He stated, however, that “nobody knows how the two videos came about”.
Leung explained that one video was downloaded from the television station’s website while the other was taken from its archives.
After Leung aired four police-filmed clips showing a man at the planter in question pouring liquid on police officers at Lung Wo Road, the two disputed videos were played in court.
The man in the police-filmed videos was wearing a pair of green goggles, a face mask, a blue-patterned scarf and a black T-shirt with a distinctive white design and lettering.
A male voice was heard in one video as saying: “The man in the mask poured water, poured water again.”
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The two televised videos, meanwhile, showed the arrest of a man without a face mask. A reporter narrating the footage said Tsang was pepper-sprayed, handcuffed, and arrested as some officers poured water on his face to rinse it.
The prosecution alleged the six videos captured the same man, Tsang, based on his clothing, height, build and gender.
But principal magistrate Peter Law Tak-chuen noted that just because the man was identified with the same clothing did not mean the footage had not been tampered with.
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Meanwhile, police sergeant Butt Wang-tat testified that he saw a man holding a one-litre water bottle about 10 feet away from him near the planter.
“It seemed he wanted to throw it down to Lung Wo Road,” he testified. “So I rushed forward ... Then he turned to hold me so I pushed him.”
In the encounter the two lost their balance and were kneeling on the ground when additional officers arrived at the scene, he said.
The trial continues.
