Macau's High Court has rejected a request by seven defence lawyers to replace the lead judge in the trial of alleged crime boss 'Broken Tooth' Wan Kuok-koi.
The lawyers had expressed 'grave mistrust' in Mr Justice Fernando Estrela last week and called for his replacement as the head of the panel of three judges who will decide the fate of Wan and nine other defendants.
But yesterday morning Mario Paz, one of the signatories to the lawyers' letter, said shortly before the hearing began: 'The High Court turned down our request.' A judicial source said the High Court had thrown out the request late last week because it deemed it unfounded.
The lawyers had accused Mr Justice Estrela of pre-judgment towards the defendants for referring to them as 'naturally dangerous' in a court document issued at the end of the trial's first day on October 11.
In yesterday's hearing, two police officers accused Wan and the other nine of a wide range of crimes, though they had no concrete evidence of any specific offence.
Judicial Police detective Antonio Pereira said based on police intelligence, Wan was the leader of Macau's 14K triad gang, which he described as a secret organisation operating on the fringes of the enclave's casinos.
The gang dealt in gaming chips, loansharking, usury, unlawful detention of gamblers on high-interest loans and blackmail, he said.