Pro-democracy Civic Passion activist detained for 80 hours, Hong Kong court hears
Defence lawyer says activist held for days because he was 'uncooperative'
The near 80-hour detention of a democracy activist came under question from a judge yesterday amid suggestions that the police wanted to punish him.
Cheung Ka-hin, 40, was arrested in the early hours of Friday for damaging doors and glass walls at the Legislative Council building in Admiralty two days earlier, but was not brought to court for a hearing until yesterday morning.
Principal Magistrate Bina Chainrai asked prosecutors to explain the delay. "The matter should be explored," she said in Eastern Court.
Cheung, a Civic Passion member, is among defendants facing one count of criminal damage over the Legco incident on Wednesday.
Prosecutor Vincent Siu said Cheung was formally charged at about 8pm on Saturday, when it was too late to take him to court.
But defence counsel Richard Yip said his client had overheard a police sergeant say on Saturday: "He is being uncooperative. Since that is the case, we shall [detain] him for a full 48 hours."
