Ex-policeman's Stroll Leads To 30 Hours In Custody

A retired pilot and former police officer has revealed to RTHK how a Sunday-evening stroll in Western District led to him spending some 30 hours in police custody following his arrest on suspicion of unlawful assembly near the central government's liaison office.

And while Jan Bochenski, 62, said he was treated humanely, he said the police station he was held in was a "mess" and the officers there showed a lack of leadership. He believed he and many other people picked up nearby at the same time were arrested to meet a target for political reasons.

"The whole thing's a joke, isn't it? I mean everybody on the street here was a spectator, and a bystander," he said. "And then you can see at the station that all the PCs and sergeants were just totally inundated with a whole lot of work and there's no senior officer present. So obviously there's a big political game going on."

He was released on $500 bail in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Asked whether he expected to be charged, he told RTHK's Timmy Sung: "I guess I will be, yes, because it depends how this political scenario turns out, doesn't it? I mean, there's no criminal case to answer as far as I can see.

"Unlawful assembly means people that are about to create a disturbance, doesn't it? A group of three or more people. And no one in this area was about to create any disturbance.

The father of two was walking along Des Voeux Road West at about 9pm last Sunday when he saw a commotion on Ka On Street, where police tactical unit officers were guarding the central government's liaison office.

Hundreds of anti-government protesters attempted to march to Beijing's Liaison Office that evening after taking part in a rally at Belcher Bay Park, but were met with volleys of tear gas as police tried to disperse them.

The Sai Ying Pun resident said he was part of a group of about 30 to 40 curious onlookers who watched as an argument developed involving the police. As he attempted to continue his walk, a group of police wielding shields and batons ran down Ka On Street from the opposite direction, pushing people and ordering them to squat with their hands against the wall.

"Everyone is a bystander. There's no black T-shirts. There's no-one with sticks or rocks or anything," he said. "There's an Indian chef with his uniform, there's a pizza boy, and I just felt they would take your ID card, your address and phone number and the, sort of, day and time and, well these people haven't got anything on them.

"Some are in their pyjamas. There was a son and his mother. Obviously they'll just tell you to go home and that's what I thought. I didn't think it was in any way serious. There's no curfew. Whats wrong with walking along Des Voeux Road?"

Bochenski said he and about 20 others were ushered onto a coach and taken to Cheung Sha Wan police station. A second coachload followed. It took several hours to secure a phone call to his wife, who was able to get him a lawyer.

He said he grew cold as he was only wearing a T-shirt and shorts, and there were 15 people in a cell with only four seats.

The group was eventually released at about 1.30am on Tuesday. Police told the detainees that they could not be released earlier due to a crowd of protesters blockading the station.

Police have been contacted for a response to Bochenski's claims.

Bochenski said he joined the marine police here in 1979 and served until 1983 before pursuing an aviation career in Hong Kong and Australia.

He does not plan to complain to the force over his treatment, but says he is more concerned about the loss of the trust that the police spent decades trying to build.

"In the colonial days, this was the big thing, your relationship with local people, how you project yourself, and really the trust was the fabric of society. This was the important thing. And this takes years to build up. It takes 20 years," he said.

"How this government thinks it's going to rebuild trust, I really don't know, and that to me is extremely sad."