A Swiss Falun Gong member yesterday told a court he was shocked by the measures used by Hong Kong police to break up a protest.
Erich Bachmann, 40, said he and three other Swiss nationals and 12 local sect members had planned to stage a three-day hunger strike outside the Beijing Liaison Office in Western District starting on March 14.
But after just four hours, police arrived to arrest them following complaints from a security guard.
Bachmann took the witness stand yesterday after Magistrate Symon Wong Yu-wing ruled that all sixteen defendants had a case to answer. He told Western Court how one officer grabbed him and 'pressed' his right ear, causing him pain. He said he tried to wriggle free, but the officer then pressed his forehead.
Describing the removal of him and fellow protesters from the scene as 'unbelievable', Bachmann said he was 'extremely shocked by the brutal measures used by the police'.
'I would have thought that democratic places like Hong Kong would employ other measures,' he said.