He urged the magistrate to adjourn Tsang's case to December 9 for a pre-trial session, so that he could have time to prepare the case.

Leung questioned the length of the adjournment, but McGowan rebutted it by saying the prosecution now objected to the adjournment even though it had taken the Department of Justice so long to bring the case to court.

So allowed the adjournment and granted Tsang bail on a surety of HK$300.

3.40pm: Photos just in by Post photographer Felix Wong of the seven police officers leaving court ...

3.21pm: Ken Tsang sits on the first row in the public gallery before the proceeding starts.

3.20pm: Police supporters disperse after the seven officers leave the court.

3.12pm: Activist Ken Tsang receives a warm welcome from supporters as he enters the court building without addressing the crowd.

Assisted by their colleagues, the seven police officers leave the court building in two black vehicles with the curtains drawn just as Tsang arrives, leaving most reporters without any video footage or photos of them. 

3.05pm: After paying HK$1,000 bail each, the seven policemen return to the conference room, guarded by eight police officers.

3pm: The seven policemen entered a conference room with their lawyers after the hearing.

Tailed by a group of reporters, the seven then go to the court’s accounts department to pay bail.

Officers Wong Wai-ho, Lau Hing-pui and Chan Siu-tan put their sunglasses and face masks back on.

2.55pm: Lawmaker “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung and his fellow League of Social Democrats member Raphael Wong Ho-Ming arrive to join supporters of Tsang in the designated protest area. 

As Leung arrives, the pro-Beijing group chant slogans saying he has forced people to "sleep on the street" because Leung lives on a public housing estate.

2.40pm: About 40 Occupy protesters have arrived at Eastern Court. The group displays placards depicting police commissioner Stephen Lo Wai-Chung and Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung in Mao-style outfits.

They also display pictures of protesters who suffered injuries which they say were inflicted by police officers during Occupy protests last year.

2.37pm: The seven policemen appear before magistrate So Wai-tak.

"Understood," they answer as they are read the charges by the court interpreter in Cantonese. They are not required to make a plea.

Prosecutor David Leung SC asks for the case to be adjourned to November 17, when the prosecution would come back with documents to transfer the case to the District Court.

So grants the seven offciers bail on a sum of HK$1,000 each. They are told not to discuss the case with the 33 prosecution witnesses, many of whom are police officers.

2.32pm: Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions David Leung Cheuk-yin SC will be prosecuting today, while the seven policemen are represented by barrister Bernard Chung Wai-keung and solicitor Stanley Chan Wing-leung.

2.30pm: Ken Tsang’s supporters are heavily outnumbered by police supporters outside Eastern Court.

2.17pm: The seven policemen enter the court room and sit on the first row of the public gallery before the proceeding begins.

The three officers wearing sunglasses and surgical masks earlier unmask themselves as they set foot in the court room. All are wearing suits.

2.02pm: Four of the seven police officers accused of assaulting Ken Tsang appear on the sixth floor of Eastern Court, where they will make their first appearance before a magistrate.

The four are followed by three others wearing sunglasses and surgical masks. It is not clear whether the other three are officers involved in the case, but the group have gone into a conference room.

1.59pm: Several men wearing suits and surgical masks, whom Leticia Lee says are the seven police officers, have arrived at the court building after emerging from a black seven-seater vehicle with its curtains drawn.

Police supporters, who earlier vowed to give the officers a round of applause, do not seem to be aware of the arrival when the officers walk past them.

1.39pm: Lee leads dozens of police supporters in deriding a man, apparently an Occupy supporter, who walks by holding a sign that reads "civil disobedience".

She calls him "rubbish".

1.38pm: A police supporter accuses judges of holding double standards and leaning towards pro-democracy protesters.

Another protester mistakes Labour Party lawmaker Dr Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung for Ken Tsang Kin-chiu while yelling slogans, calling him "Tsang Chiu-hung".

1.30pm: Some photos from outside Eastern Court ...

1.20pm: Leticia Lee, a pro-Beijing figure who rose to fame in recent years, has arrived with supporters.

"We come here today as individuals, which is why we are not in uniform today," she says.

"The seven policemen are the conscience of Hong Kong."

"We love our righteous policemen!"

She appeals to the public to come to Eastern Court to show support for police.

She also asks the crowd to give the seven policemen a round of applause, though the applause turns out to be scattered.

1.11pm: About 40 police supporters from the Defend Hong Kong Campaign have filled one side of the designated protest area outside the court building.

Asked why he is here, a police supporter who refuses to give his name reads from his hand-written placard: "Those lawbreakers deserve to die, even God would have no mercy [on them]."

1pm: More police officers, in both plain clothes and uniform, have come as reinforcements to join dozens of their colleagues already at the scene. However, there is still no sight of Ken Tsang's supporters, nor were police supporter Leticia Lee and her Justice Alliance group anywhere to be seen.

Earlier report:

Seven policemen accused of beating up Occupy protester Ken Tsang Kin-chiu – along with Tsang himself – are making their first court appearances at Eastern Court this afternoon in separate cases that are closely connected.

The seven policemen face one joint count of causing Tsang grievous bodily harm with intent, with one facing an extra count of common assault. Tsang faces one charge of assaulting police and four counts of obstructing officers.

The seven policemen are: Chief Inspector Wong Cho-sing, Senior Inspector Lau Cheuk-ngai, Detective Sergeant Pak Wing-bun, and constables Lau Hing-pui, Chan Siu-tan, Kwan Ka-ho, and Wong Wai-ho. Chan faces the additional assault charge.

Tsang’s case is expected to be dealt with by a magistrate’s court, while the case of the seven policemen is expected to be transferred to the higher District Court, where they could face a maximum sentence of seven years in prison if convicted.

To implement crowd control measures, police arrived at Eastern Court before 10.30am to put up barricades and set aside three protest zones – two at the doorsteps of the court and one across Tai On Street off residential building Les Saisons in Sai Wan Ho.

Fu Chun-chung, convenor of anti-Occupy group Defend Hong Kong Campaign, arrived at the scene early with fellow members to set up banners. 

The two zones outside the court have been occupied by supporters of the seven policemen since this morning, although a police officer said each camp – supporters of Tsang versus the seven policemen – was supposed to be allocated a space.

Police officers were seen inviting Fu and his fellow group members to join police supporters on the other side, but to no avail.

Some parties had informed the police about the protest, the police officer said, though she did not specify which parties.

Fu said he expected about 50 police supporters to join him, but they were of a different group summoned by another police supporter and founder of the Justice Alliance, Leticia Lee See-yin.

"Lee’s focus is to support the police, while we support Hong Kong in general," he stressed.

Earlier, Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung said he made the two cases coincide with each other as he wanted legal representatives to address Eastern Court on which case should be handled first. “This is most fair ... to both parties,” he said.

Legal experts note that the order of the trials could raise questions of witnesses’ credibility, with the result of the first trial having implications for the latter case.