As seven policemen stand trial for allegedly assaulting activist Ken Tsang during Occupy protests in 2014, witnesses say news footage of his arrest did not show a complete version of events.
The defence has objected to prosecutors’ attempts to submit news clips from TVB, ATV, Now TV, and Apple Daily of the arrest and alleged beating as evidence in court, claiming that the footage could have been doctored.
But prosecutors say the videos are crucial, as they show the events that culminated in the alleged assault on Tsang.
Chief inspector Wong Cho-shing, senior inspector Lau Cheuk-ngai, detective sergeant Pak Wing-bun, and constables Lau Hing-pui, Chan Siu-tan, Kwan Ka-ho, and Wong Wai-ho have all denied one joint count of causing grievous bodily harm with intent against Tsang.
They have been accused of “unlawfully and maliciously” attacking the 40-year-old social worker while he was handcuffed in October 2014.
Chan, aged 31, has also denied one charge of common assault for allegedly assaulting Tsang in a police station interview room on another occasion, reports SCMP.
In court today, senior inspector Wut Chin-cheong identified himself in ATV footage as one of the figures filmed “subduing” another man “in a black upper garment” who was resisting “vigorously”, and said the video was “consistent with his memory”.
However, he agreed when defence counsel Cheng Huan SC asked if the video was an “incomplete picture of what happened”.
Another witness, station sergeant Cheng Ho-cheung, also identified himself as one of the people subduing the man “in black upper garment” in the ATV footage, which he said matched his own memory of what had occurred.
Cheng said he recalled subduing the man for around five minutes, while ATV footage of the event was only one minute long.
The trial continues.
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