Activist Ken Tsang has said he has decided to give up appealing against the five-week prison sentence he received for assaulting police and resisting arrest during the 2014 pro-democracy Occupy protests.
Tsang, a social worker, said on his Facebook page that he made the decision “after long deliberations.” He will appear before the High Court on Tuesday morning to accept the sentence, which he expects a total of 31 days after holidays are deducted.
Tsang, 40, was accused and convicted of attacking police officers with liquid from the embankment of the underpass at Lung Wo Road and then resisting arrest. Tsang was then brought to a “dark corner” nearby and beaten up by seven police officers, who were recently jailed for two years.
He said he has been prepared for the consequences since the first day of him joining social movement.
“I understand that some of the things that I have done were not allowed by the law and I have to be responsible – I have never denied that,” he said.
But he dismissed claims – by some critics – that he poured urine or corrosive liquid, and said that judges confirmed he only poured water, which was then used to wash off pepper spray.
He also dismissed claims that he resisted arrest violently and pushed an officer into a plant rack: “This is a completely fabricated fact.”
“It is not a weakness, or a case of giving up protesting by not appealing. These two-odd years… it was not easy. Facing all the unfairness, protection [of police officers] by the government, Department of Justice and police, the way this was handled turned black into white – we have done the best we could do, and got the best we could,” Tsang said.
Tsang questioned whether he was the only protester beaten since the Occupy protests and said that society should not blame demonstrators.
“I believe in disobedience – in that democracy and freedom are not given by people, but supported by us who stand up and resist. I hope Hong Kong people have no more need to make compromises, and no one else has to make sacrifices.”
Tsang also thanked his supporters.
He ended his statement with the slogan “No fear in civil disobedience” and “I want genuine universal suffrage.”
