Hong Kong activist denies she was warned by police at Occupy protest

A social activist challenged testimony by two policewomen that they warned her before carrying her out of an occupied zone near the chief executive's office in Admiralty last October.

Policewoman Tsz Wing-yee told Eastern Court she was deployed to restore traffic and order at Lung Wo Road at midnight on October 15.

At about 3am, she was instructed to remove Li Sin-chi, a 55-year-old member of the League of Social Democrats, who was sitting on the pavement near the junction of Lung Wo Road and Tim Wa Avenue.

Li denied one count of obstructing police officers.

Tsz said: "I told the woman: 'You are participating in an illegal assembly. Your participation has caused obstruction to other road users. Please leave immediately, or we will take you away. You may commit the offence of obstructing police officers'."

Tsz said she gave Li two warnings before lifting her up with policewoman Wong Wai-ying and removing her from the area.

She agreed with Li's barrister, Randy Shek, that the whole incident lasted more than 10 seconds. Wong said in her testimony that it lasted "20 to 30 seconds".

But a video clip played in court by the defence showed it only took about five seconds for the policewomen to squat, lift Li and take her away.

Both Tsz and Wong insisted warnings had been issued despite the time differences pointed out by Shek.

Shek argued that because Li was sitting on the pavement, her act was irrelevant to the officers' duties - which were to restore the flow of traffic at Lung Wo Road.

He said police had expected to remove protesters who refused to leave, so Li's refusal to leave the road on her own did not make the job of the officers more difficult.

"Everything is within the expectation [of the police officers]," Shek said.

He also submitted that even if Li had caused an obstruction, it would not amount to the criminal elements of the offence laid down by a case precedent.

Extending Li's bail, Magistrate Colin Wong Sze-cheung adjourned the case to August 11 for verdict.