Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said that the reason why he seemingly did not react to an alleged attack by lawmaker Wong Yuk-man was because he “froze”, the Eastern Magistrates’ Court heard on Friday.
Wong, 64, has been accused of throwing a glass at Leung during a Legislative Council question-and-answer session in July 2014. He was charged with common assault and has pleaded not guilty.
The court tried to show footage of the Legislative Council meeting on the day of the incident, but the first attempt was unsuccessful as the television used was an old model. Both Leung and Wong complained about the poor resolution. “The Legislative Council needs to give more funding to the court,” Wong said.
The police then brought in two LCD televisions and purchased the cables and transformer required during the recess, RTHK reported. The footage played in court appeared to show a man standing on a table throwing a glass at Leung.
Wong said that – from the footage – it could be observed that Leung did not have much of a reaction when the incident took place. When Leung asked what reaction Wong was referring to, Wong said that Leung claimed he was shocked and suffering an assault when he heard the glass smashing. Yet the footage showed Leung had no reaction, Wong added.
In response, Leung said that he froze on the spot, Stand News reported.
Wong said all Leung did was stand completely still in the three seconds following the incident, which showed that he was not shocked at all. Leung disagreed.
When the footage was shown in court, Leung asked at one point, “Which one is the witness?” Wong pointed to Leung on the screen and said, “This one’s the witness, that’s you.”
‘Unreliable witness’
As the third day of the trial came to a close, Wong – who has been defending himself – cited a case from 2001 in which a High Court judge said Leung was an unreliable witness. Leung again disagreed.
The trial will continue next week.
