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Ken Tsang (in black) was arrested in 2014 during the Occupy protests. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Hong Kong court rules Ken Tsang arrest footage admissible as evidence in assault trial

Lawyers for seven policemen accused of beating activist during 2014 Occupy protest fail in bid to block media material

Footage and photos allegedly showing seven policemen assaulting activist Ken Tsang Kin-chiu during the Occupy protests in 2014 were admissible as court evidence, a judge ruled on Tuesday.

This could be a blow to the defence’s case as prosecutors had earlier told the District Court that the material in question allegedly captured events leading up to the assault of Tsang and that they should therefore be admitted.

The defence counsel for the seven had made a legal bid to block the prosecutors’ request, calling the authenticity of the material into question.

Giving his ruling, judge David Dutton said all the footage and pictures were “relevant” and “prima facie” authentic. He ruled all of it, including CCTV and news footage, as well as newspaper pictures, admissible.

Chief Inspector Wong Cho-shing, 48, Senior Inspector Lau Cheuk-ngai, 29, Detective Sergeant Pak Wing-bun, 42, and constables Lau Hing-pui, 38, Chan Siu-tan, 31, Kwan Ka-ho, 32, and Wong Wai-ho, 36, deny one joint count of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Tsang on October 15 near a pump station on Lung Wui Road in Admiralty.

Chan also denies one extra count of common assault over an alleged subsequent attack at the Central police station.

Earlier, deputy director of public prosecutions David Leung Cheuk-yin SC said the news footage – most of which was obtained through internet downloads after the allleged attack – came from television stations TVB, ATV, Now TV, and the newspaper Apple Daily.

Leung alleged that the ATV and Now TV news footage depicted the events surrounding Tsang’s arrest as he was passed between a number of police ­officers.

Part of the TVB footage showed Tsang being escorted by six of the defendants, while another TVB clip, he alleged earlier, showed how the seven took Tsang to a pumping station “and also assaulted him”.

Two pictures, from Apple Daily and Oriental Daily, allegedly captured six of the officers carrying and escorting Tsang, Leung said earlier.

CCTV footage of Central police station was submitted by the prosecutors in relation to Chan’s alleged assault on Tsang.

After the ruling on admissibility, the trial will hear further evidence relating to the assault from 32 witnesses, including once more from Tsang.

The judge adjourned the case to October 19 after learning that a 593-page document, the transcript of Tsang’s trial in Kowloon City Court, had only recently been obtained and had yet to be ­translated.

“Words fail me,” he told both the prosecution and defence, saying the issue should have been brought up at an earlier stage in the proceedings.

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