Siege on university of Hong Kong council meeting was ‘a riot’, chairman Arthur Li tells court
Li also testifies that he looks down on former student leader Billy Fung, who is on trial for criminal intimidation and disorderly behaviour in a public place
The governing council chairman also testified that he looked down on former HKU student union president Billy Fung Jing-en, 22, who is on trial for criminally intimidating Li and its alternative charge of disorderly behaviour in a public place.
“I don’t hate him,” Li told Eastern Court. “I look down on him because his character is flawed.”
The case centres on a protest outside the Hong Kong Jockey Club Building for Interdisciplinary Research in Pok Fu Lam on January 26, following a three-hour council meeting, the first one chaired by Li.
The 71-year-old recalled there were about 300 to 400 people surrounding him and other councillors as they tried to leave the venue under escort, with two protesters in the crowd trying to pull him down while swearing at him.
“It was a riot,” he said. “The whole bunch was rioting like crazy.”
It was a riot ... The whole bunch was rioting like crazy
Li said the university’s vice-chancellor, Peter Mathieson, made a similar comment describing the crowd as “a mob”, adding: “You need a mob to riot; gentlemen don’t riot.”
He recalled feeling his life was endangered as protesters were glaring while swearing at him and also pulling him.
“I think it’s a riot when there is violence inflicted on [one’s] life,” he continued.
But defence counsel Martin Lee Chu-ming SC said Li had appeared very calm in videos of that night despite protesters repeatedly shouting : “Shame!”
“I’m a surgeon,” Li replied. “It’s part of my training to look calm, but of course I wasn’t on the inside.
“University students do not behave like that, villains do,” he said. “I was scared ... [wondering] if I could go home, if I could leave.”
Lee countered that the scene should be no big deal to the council chairman, given that he was a rugby player who fought during his school years.
“I disagree, fighting is one to one, this is one against many,” Li replied.
One point of contention was whether Fung had called to protesters: “Don’t let him go! Don’t let Arthur Li go! Kill him! Kill him!”
Li, who previously testified that he felt the call was that of a mastermind inciting an attack, said he had heard Fung very clearly and denied he was lying.
“It was the very rude language of the triads,” he said, referring to Chinese slang used in Fung’s purported call.
He also testified that he saw the student leader clearly, without being blinded by camera lights.
“King Arthur’s eyes are particularly sharp,” the defence counsel replied, referring to the professor’s nickname.
The trial continues before magistrate Ko Wai-hung, with Mathieson expected to testify for the defence next week.
