Court Rejects Cops' Appeal Bid In Ken Tsang Case

The High Court on Friday rejected a bid by five policemen convicted of beating up an activist during the Occupy protests of 2014 to take their cases to the Court of Final Appeal.

Court of Appeal judge Andrew Macrae said none of the four points of law advanced by the five men – on the authenticity of the video footage relied upon at their trial – were of "great and general importance".

At the lower court hearing, the defendants had disputed the authenticity of the footage downloaded from the internet. It showed officers beating Tsang, who was tied up and lying on the ground. But the court accepted the footage as evidence and found the officers guilty.

All seven were convicted of assault by the District Court in 2017, and sentenced to two years imprisonment.

In July this year, two of the seven were found not guilty by the Court of Appeal, while the remaining five had their sentences reduced.

The five officers want their convictions overturned and had asked the High Court's permission to take their case to the top court. While the High Court has rejected this request, the five can still approach the Court of Final Appeal directly.