Occupy protest assault trial was a ‘circus’, retired Hong Kong police officer tells appeal court
Frankly Chu was originally jailed for striking a bystander during the civil disobedience movement in 2014
A retired senior police officer jailed for striking a bystander with a baton during Hong Kong’s 2014 pro-democracy Occupy protests complained in appeal on Wednesday that his trial had been a circus.
Lawyers for Frankly Chu gave 28 reasons why his victim was not a credible witness after revealing a new piece of footage unearthed from some 2,800 online videos capturing what has become one of the most controversial scenes of policing during the civil disobedience movement.
Charlotte Draycott SC also complained that Principal Magistrate Bina Chainrai was unfair to her client when she “refused to look at the wider picture to see what took place and focused on the seconds of the blow” that left Osman Cheng Chung-hang with a “trivial” injury.
“We must take a step back and look critically at the evidence,” Draycott told the High Court. “The trial was a circus. There was endless interruption and confusion. The public gallery was packed. Emotions ran high … When the magistrate came to deal with the evidence, she did not analyse the evidence, she simply said, ‘I believe in [Cheng]’.”
Chu, 58, was jailed for three months in January for striking Cheng, 28, with a baton during a clearance operation in Mong Kok on November 26, 2014. Cheng had testified that the blow injured the right part of his neck.