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Chris Lau

A pro-democracy activist was violently bundled to the ground and injured by at least six police officers as he tried to leave a protest, a court was told yesterday.
Barrister David Chu said his client Cheng Ho-man, 23, was merely trying to make his way past a police cordon near the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong hotel in Wan Chai, where the chairman of the Basic Law Committee, Li Fei, was staying during a visit to the city on September 1 last year.
Cheng was arrested after he clambered over a metal barrier to leave the protest from the westbound lane of Harbour Road. He has pleaded not guilty to one count of resisting a police officer.
Cross-examining Sergeant Wong King-chi, who subdued Cheng, Chu asked him: "Do you agree that as soon as [Cheng] got past the police cordon, you and at least five police officers pinned him down immediately?"
He put it to Wong that the sergeant and his colleagues violently intercepted Cheng without asking him what he was doing. This failure, he argued, caused injuries to his client, who was taken to Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam with red marks on his limbs.
Chu also accused Wong's seniors of being on a mission to prevent any dissident political views from reaching Li's ears.
Wong's commanders on that day, Lam Yan-yi and Yuen Wing-hong, denied that accusation. Yuen said it was fine for a protester to leave via the westbound lane as long as he did not cause any disorder. Wong said he took the prompt action to prevent Cheng from reaching the other lane, where traffic was still flowing. He said other exits were available.
Cheng's co-defendant Chu Po-sang, 21, who pleaded not guilty to the same charge, had a similar encounter with the police, the lawyer said.
Chu was waving a flag as he darted to another metal barrier, which he was accused of pushing and kicking. He was subdued and arrested.
The lawyer suggested that he also simply wanted to leave. Both men are members of the radical group Civic Passion.
The case continues on Monday before magistrate Colin Wong Sze-cheung.
Li was in Hong Kong to attend a forum to discuss the 2017 electoral framework set by Beijing.


Activist violently pinned down by at least six police officers as he tried to leave protest, court told

The protest outside the Grand Hyatt, where Li Fei was staying.

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