Ted Hui Says Phone-grabbing Was To Stop Law Breach

Democratic Party lawmaker Ted Hui has told his trial over a phone-snatching incident in Legco that government officers had no right to be in the complex, and he had a duty to report their illegal monitoring of lawmakers.

Hui denies various charges relating to the alleged run-in with a Security Bureau official in April last year.

The legislator told Eastern Court on Monday that Legco is not a public place and the government officials he called the "paparazzi team" should not even have been there.

He suggested the officers had breached privacy laws by making notes about where lawmakers were in the building and said that as a councillor, he was obliged to report any illegal acts.

Hui also said he suspected the information collected would be handed to “other organisations” and said this was a form of threat against him and his colleagues.

Last week, the alleged victim, a Security Bureau officer, told the court that as she was making notes on the whereabouts of legislators, Hui grabbed her phone and ran off with it into a men's toilet.

The incident came as lawmakers were debating the decision to allow the mainland to control part of the West Kowloon high-speed rail terminus.

Hui denies common assault, obstructing a public officer, and access to a computer with criminal or dishonest intent.