Hong Kong police commissioner sued for HK$2m over protest assault claims

Two men are suing the commissioner of police for at least HK$20 million in total after allegedly being assaulted by officers during the Occupy Central protests in Mong Kok late last year, writs filed to the High Court show.

The two claimants, Chan Sui-wing and Li Cheuk-hin, said they were pedestrians when the alleged incidents took place at Nathan Road and Argyle Street.

Li, a university student, said that one policeman "violently and brutally grasped [his] penis and testicles for a certain period of time" in the vicinity of Argyle and Tung Choi streets on December 1, last year.

He later sought medical treatment, according to his writ.

Li also claimed to have lost his belongings - including a wallet, student card, a Canon camera and some cash - when the police officers pulled a rucksack from his back and threw it away while trying to handcuff him.

He also accused police officers of unlawful arrest and detention that amounted to false imprisonment.

Chan, in his writ, said six or seven policemen hit him in the head, nose and body as he was crossing Nathan Road late at night on November 5.

"The assault on his nose was mainly by way of numerous severe kicks by the knees of the policemen," the writ said.

Some of the officers yanked the collar of his T-shirt with great force and pressed him against wooden structures, it said.

As well as accusing police of unlawful arrest and detention, Chan said they also searched his flat twice without his consent or a search warrant. Officers seized or photocopied his passport, bank records and private correspondences without his consent, according to his writ.

Both Chan and Li said they had written letters to the Department of Justice requesting disclosure of all statements and videos related to the incidents, but that the department, in its reply in February, said only that it would take instructions from the police.

They accuse the department of deploying "delaying tactics".