Civic party activist Ken Tsang has pleaded not guilty to five charges of resisting and assaulting police officers in the execution of duty. He was appearing before the Eastern Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday afternoon for a pre-trial review.
Tsang was accompanied to court by supporters, one of whom was League of Social Democrats lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung. Many of them held yellow umbrellas – a symbol of last year’s pro-democracy Occupy protests.
Tsang allegedly assaulted 11 police officers last October by pouring water onto them from the embankment of the underpass at Lung Wo Road. He was said to have then resisted arrest by four officers. The incident happened on the same day Tsang was filmed apparently being kicked and punched by seven police officers in a “dark corner” in Tamar, Admiralty.
The pre-trial hearing will re-adjourn on January 28 and trial will commence on April 11. It is expected to last five days. Tsang will be represented by Senior Counsel Robert Pang Yiu-hung, RTHK reported. Tsang continues to be out on bail of HK$300 in the meantime.
The prosecution is set to submit various video clips taken by Asia Television (ATV) and police officers. There are 26 witnesses on the prosecution side, nine of which – including an officer – stopped Tsang on the day of the alleged crime. Another, who downloaded the clip from the ATV website, will also be called to the stand.
The defence are asking to summon two witnesses who were commanders on the scene. They will also be protesting the submission of the ATV clip as evidence. The counsel for the defence asked the court for more time to search for witnesses, but Judge Bina Chainrai refused to grant an extension. She stated that the defence cannot argue for more time by drawing a comparison with the fact that the prosecution took a year to officially lay charges.
