Two Cleared In Ken Tsang Case, Five Jail Terms Cut

The Court of Appeal has cleared two officers and cut the jail terms of five others over the beating up of activist Ken Tsang during the 2014 Occupy movement.

The court reduced the sentences of chief inspector Wong Cho-sing and senior inspector Lau Cheuk-ngai to 18 months behind bars, while the prison terms for sergeant Pak wing-pun and constable Kwan Ka-Ho were reduced to 15 months. The sentence for constable Chan Siu-tan was cut to 16 months.

Charges against constable Lau Hing-pui and detective constable Wong Wai-ho were overturned.

In delivering the judgement, the court said Lau was never identified by any witness at the trial from any of the video footage or from other evidence. It also said the trial judge’s own identification of Lau was not enough.

As for Wong, the judges said the case against him suffered from the same flaws.

“Ultimately, their convictions, unlike those of the other appellants, derive from an identification which the judge himself made but which none of the witnesses at trial was prepared to make,” they said.

The judges said while the action of the officers "will have shaken everyone's faith not only in the Hong Kong police force but in the rule of law itself", they also felt the lower court's punishment was "manifestly excessive".

All the policemen were originally given two-year prison terms in 2017 for causing actual bodily harm.

They were granted bail for the appeal after serving several months of their sentences.

During the appeal hearing, their lawyers called for leniency.

One of the counsels argued that his client had suffered “a momentary lapse of judgement”, while another said the lower-ranking officers should have been given a shorter sentence.

The District Court had heard in the trial in 2017 that Tsang was arrested during a protest in Admiralty in October 2014, carried to a dark corner, and then kicked and punched on the ground by the officers.

Trial judge David Dufton had said that the court needed to “make an example” to ensure that no officers would attempt to commit similar offences in the future.

But the officers had argued that they were under enormous pressure during the Occupy protests which lasted for 79-days.

Speaking to RTHK by telephone, Tsang said he was shocked by the court's decision and fears it will trigger even more public outrage.

He urged the Department of Justice to take the case to the Court of Final Appeal.

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