Hong Kong man cleared of indecently assaulting opposition lawmaker with kiss after anti-government protest

Magistrate says behaviour of Fan Ka-ho, 40, was suspicious but she gave him the benefit of the doubt as there were irreconcilable differences in witness accounts

Case centred on an encounter between Fan and Civic Party lawmaker Tanya Chan on the night of August 23 last year

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Fan Ka-ho’s behaviour was suspicious, the magistrate said, but she gave the 40-year-old the benefit of the doubt. Photo: Brian Wong

Published: 10:44pm, 31 Aug 2020Updated: 4:02am, 1 Sep 2020

An unemployed Hong Kong man has been cleared of indecently assaulting opposition lawmaker Tanya Chan by kissing her following an anti-government protest last year after the court found there were contradictions in the politician’s testimony and that of her assistant, who witnessed the incident.

Magistrate Stephanie Tsui May-har on Monday observed that Fan Ka-ho’s behaviour was suspicious but gave the 40-year-old the benefit of the doubt upon finding that she could not accept the evidence of the two key prosecution witnesses with ease, citing irreconcilable differences on multiple crucial points.

The Eastern Court case centred on an encounter between Fan and the Civic Party lawmaker on the night of August 23 last year, when demonstrators formed human chains with their mobile phone flashlights held aloft in a citywide display of unity amid the social arrest.

Tanya Chan testified that she had felt ‘something soft and not wet’ touching below her right nostril and above her lips. Photo: Brian Wong

Fan was accused of indecently assaulting Chan, 48, while she was waiting in front of a pedestrian crossing on Shau Kei Wan Road on Hong Kong Island at around 9.15pm, after the protest had ended.

He was then said to have knelt on the ground and begged for mercy, before running away until police intercepted him one block from the scene.