Hong Kong pair admit they made nuisance calls to police commander over his actions at Occupy sit-in
Man and woman said they harassed commander because of his actions at the Mong Kok sit-in
A man and a woman admitted making dozens of telephone calls over four days last year to harass a police officer who was shown on television news beating an Occupy movement supporter, a court heard yesterday.
Kwong Kai-hong, 28, and Esther Poon Sheung-yin, 21, each pleaded guilty to two counts of making persistent phone calls to then Sha Tin divisional commander Franklin Chu King-wai, who took part in the "Solarpeak" operation during the Occupy sit-ins in Mong Kok last year.
Chu received one anonymous call after another on his residential landline and mobile phone between November 28 and December 1, Tsuen Wan Court heard.
No caller identity was displayed for most of the calls.
"The frequency of the telephone calls was annoying to [Chu] and he reported the case to the police," prosecutor Kalina Wong Suk-lan told Magistrate Rita So Ka-yin.
Local media reported that Chu retired after the footage capturing his action against Occupy supporters went viral on the web.
Poon found Chu's phone numbers in a post on the HKGolden.com forum, the court heard.
According to records on Kwong's mobile phone, 14 calls were made to Chu's residential landline and 23 to his cellphone on November 28 and 29. Police arrested Kwong and seized his phone on December 22, Wong said. The officers found Chu's numbers saved as a contact under the name of "Chu King-luen".
Poon made 19 calls to Chu's residential landline and 11 calls to his mobile phone between November 28 and December 1. She admitted to police under caution that she rang Chu more than 10 times with a view to "punishing and harassing" him, Wong said.
In mitigation, the pair said they cared about what happened in Hong Kong and had committed the crimes on impulse.
So said that regardless of what they saw in the television footage and however noble their motive, the way they handled the matter was inappropriate.
The magistrate said they should instead have raised any concerns they had with the relevant authorities.
She adjourned sentencing to July 17, pending probation and background reports.