Video may not show Ken Tsang being beaten, accused Hong Kong police officers claim
Defence says prosecution case rests almost entirely on activist’s credibility
Activist Ken Tsang Kin-chiu may not have been the person seen being assaulted by a group of apparent police officers in widely viewed footage that captured one of the most controversial scenes of the Occupy protests two years ago, a court heard on Tuesday.
That argument was deployed by six of the defence teams representing the seven policemen on trial at the District Court for seriously harming the social worker outside a pump station in Admiralty on October 15, 2014.
They reasoned that even if Tsang had been assaulted after his arrest, the injuries were inflicted by officers other than the defendants, because none of the accused had been equipped with the specific baton that allegedly left 15 red bruises on Tsang.
Lawrence Lok Ying-kam SC, for Chief Inspector Wong Cho-shing, said prosecutors could not explain those marks.
And Cheng Huan SC, for Senior Inspector Lau Cheuk-ngai, added: “The only plausible explanation is that [Tsang] was not assaulted by the defendants.”
They also argued that Tsang could have been injured during his arrest, as he had put up a struggle, and that the poor quality of the footage meant no positive identification can safely be made.
Prosecutors had relied on Tsang’s claim that there was no change of guard to place all of them at the pump station.
But Lok said the segmented clip showed a different formation of people escorting and carrying a person between shots. Counsel Edwin Choy said it would be wholly unsafe to rely on Tsang, whom he described as an “opportunistic witness”.
Cheng said the prosecution case rested almost entirely on Tsang’s credibility and reliability. “The other evidence ... is in itself incapable of supporting a conviction,” he told Judge David Dufton.
The seven defendants are Wong, 49; Lau, 30; Detective Sergeant Pak Wing-bun, 43; and constables Lau Hing-pui, 39; Wong Wai-ho, 38; Chan Siu-tan, 32; and Kwan Ka-ho, 33. They denied one joint count of causing grievous bodily harm with intent. Chan denies an extra count of common assault.
The trial continues.
