Lawmaker’s private prosecution over alleged Legco assault ends after Hong Kong’s justice department takes over case, drops it

The department’s Anthony Chau tells court ex-legislator Raymond Chan had ‘no reasonable prospect’ of obtaining a conviction

Pro-Beijing lawmaker Kwok Wai-keung’s use of force, captured on video, was reasonable ‘under the circumstances’, he adds

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Kwok Wai-keung appeared at West Kowloon Magistrates Court on Monday, where the justice department declined to pursue assault charges against him. Photo: Winson Wong

Published: 7:34pm, 9 Nov 2020Updated: 10:34pm, 9 Nov 2020

A Hong Kong court has dismissed a private prosecution brought by a former opposition lawmaker over his alleged assault by a pro-Beijing rival at a chaotic Legislative Council meeting, after the justice department took over the case, then dropped it, saying the bid had been made out of context.

Senior assistant director of public prosecutions Anthony Chau Tin-hang on Monday said the attempted prosecution by ex-legislator Raymond Chan Chi-chuen, who faces three charges over the May 8 incident, did not “even disclose a prima facie case”, and therefore had “no reasonable prospect of conviction”.

Chau was applying to West Kowloon Court to take over Chan’s prosecution of lawmaker Kwok Wai-keung, who had denied one count of common assault before the Department of Justice stepped in.

A screen grab from a widely circulated video of the May 8 House Committee meeting shows a portion of the alleged incident. Photo: Handout

He said the public prosecutor would offer no evidence against Kwok – effectively ending the case – after reviewing an investigation report compiled by an independent team of police officers as well as all relevant evidence.

Chan, 48, accused Kwok, 42, of pulling his collar from behind and dragging him along an aisle during the Legco meeting, in which opposition lawmakers were ejected following a protest. Video of the incident was shared widely online.