Hong Kong national security law: expert testifies motorcyclist applied brakes before hitting police officers
- Defence for Tong Ying-kit seeks to establish their client saw three officers injured in collision as dangerous obstacles, not targets
- Tong is facing charges of secession and terrorism under Beijing-imposed national security law
Prosecution witness Tsang Cheuk-nam testified at the High Court on Tuesday at the request of defendant Tong Ying-kit’s lawyers, who sought to establish that their 24-year-old client viewed the three policemen injured in a collision on July 1 last year as dangerous obstacles rather than targets.
The prosecution is pressing national security charges of secession and terrorism against Tong, whom they accuse of ramming his motorcycle into the three officers as part of a plot to further his pro-independence agenda on the day after the Beijing-imposed legislation took effect last year.
Video footage of the crash shows the rear light of Tong’s motorcycle activated just before the impact, indicating the rider had applied the brake as he was about to run into the officers.
Tsang, who had been asked by the prosecution to estimate the speed of Tong’s motorcycle, was initially not called to testify in the witness box. However, the defence asked that he appear after finding parts of his evidence could prove beneficial to their case.
The analyst said that judging from the footage, Tong appeared to have hit the brakes 0.9 seconds before the collision, which reflected the standard reaction time for a driver who perceived danger ahead and was attempting an emergency stop.