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Joyce Ng

Although facing prosecution, Occupy Central co-founders Benny Tai Yiu-ting, Dr Chan Kin-man and the Reverend Chu Yiu-ming could not help being amused at some of the police evidence presented to them yesterday.
Among the evidence was a video shot by themselves to mock a government clip.
The official version featured Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and two other ministers announcing the start of consultations on political reform.
In their version, released months ahead of the sit-in protests, the trio adopted the same style and intonation at the same venue, Tamar Park, although it was announcing the start of the civil disobedience movement.
"I tried hard not to laugh," said Chan , who added that police were considering using the video as proof they "incited" people to take part in an unauthorised assembly.
"In a lot of the other clips they showed me, I was appealing to protesters not to clash with police when addressing the crowd [in Admiralty]. I was hoping … police would ask me why I said that, but they didn't," Chan, a sociology professor, said.
The interrogation process left them with mixed feelings. "I see from the clips ourselves going through so much in the past two years. Benny was so young-looking at the start. Now his hair has turned grey, and he's a little weary," he said.
Tai, standing next to Chan, smiled but did not go into detail about what evidence was shown to him. But he did say he was shown some articles, including one he wrote for the Economic Journal on January 16, 2013, where he floated the idea of Occupy Central for the first time.
In that article, titled "Civil disobedience is the most powerful weapon", Tai suggested a peaceful mass sit-in of 10,000 people paralysing the Central business district should be enough to pose a threat to Beijing and prompt it to give Hongkongers genuine universal suffrage. The article did not specify when the protest should take place.
While Chan and Tai were shown 20 and 17 videos respectively, Chu was asked to watch 11 clips and read two newspaper articles that alleged his friendship with the other two founders had turned sour. "I feel weird. Why is this evidence at all?" Chu said.


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Occupy Central

Police evidence against Occupy Central leaders found amusing

(From left) Occupy co-founders Chan Kin-man, Benny Tai Yiu-ting and Chu Yiu-ming meet the media outside Police Headquarter in Wan Chai. Photo: Sam Tsang

Police show Occupy founders evidence that may be used against them

Occupy founders appear at police HQ yesterday. Photo: Sam Tsang

From left: Leading pro-democracy activists Chan Kin-man, Benny Tai Yiu-ting and Chu Yiu-ming during the protests. Photo: AFP

News

Hong Kong

Although facing prosecution, Occupy Central co-founders Benny Tai Yiu-ting, Dr Chan Kin-man and the Reverend Chu Yiu-ming could not help being amused at some of the police evidence presented to them.
