Reporter slams Hong Kong police complaints office after claims he was beaten by officers rejected despite video footage of incident

Journalist claimed two to three officers grabbed him by throat as they pushed him off bus during Mong Kok riot and he was then kicked and hit by others

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Violence broke out after a hawker control operation in one of the city’s most popular shopping districts turned ugly. Photo: AFP

Published: 10:30am, 3 Jul 2018Updated: 10:58am, 3 Jul 2018

The Hong Kong Police Force’s complaints division has rejected allegations by a journalist that he was assaulted by several officers during the Mong Kok riot of February 2016.

After almost 2½ years of internal investigations, the Complaints Against Police Office (CAPO) last Friday told the reporter, surnamed Tang, there was insufficient evidence to identify officers or to conclude he was attacked on a bus as he had claimed.

In response, Tang called the result “puzzling and unacceptable”, noting news groups had recorded footage of officers attacking him.

“I will ask them to review my case again and will consider pursuing legal action against the police,” he said.

Hong Kong courts have convicted 28 people over the riot. Photo: AFP

Tang, who worked for the Chinese-language newspaper Ming Pao at the time, was reporting on the violence that broke out during the Lunar New Year, when a hawker control operation in one of the city’s most popular shopping districts turned ugly, with clashes between protesters and police.

Hong Kong courts have since convicted 28 people on charges including rioting, unlawful assembly, criminal damage, assaulting police and arson.