Beijing ‘wanted to avoid assault of journalist Kevin Lau becoming politicised’, court hears
Alleged attacker of journalist tells court he was tortured into making confession on mainland
One of two alleged attackers of a Hong Kong journalist claimed public security officers in mainland China forced him to confess because the central government did not want the assault case to become politicised, the High Court heard on Thursday.
The attack on February 26 last year severely injured Kevin Lau Chun-to, former chief editor of Chinese-language newspaper Ming Pao. Lau suffered cuts to his left shoulder, back and both legs, with some of the wounds quite deep and nerves in his legs damaged, the court heard earlier. The injuries kept him in hospital until July 15 last year.
That March, alleged attackers Yip Kim-wah and Wong Chi-wah, both 39, were arrested while having dinner in Guangdong, Yip testified on Thursday.
He had gone to mainland China with his friend Wong to visit other friends, he said, but officers took the pair to a detention centre and detained them separately.
Yip told the court he was beaten up and interrogated for two whole days.
The torture continued, he said, until one day when a few uniformed officers who seemed to be of a more senior rank showed up and said to him: “The central government did not want the case to become a political issue. You had better confess everything.”
The officers also said that if Yip refused to co-operate, he would not be sent back to Hong Kong, but would face trial on the mainland followed by a death sentence or indefinite jail term, the court heard.