'Occupy' protester convicted on 3 counts

Ken Tsang Kin-chiu

Political activist and Civic Party member Ken Tsang Kin-chiu was found guilty of one count of assaulting police officers and two counts of resisting arrest at Kowloon City Magistrates' Court on Thursday afternoon. The offenses were committed during the "Occupy Central" movement in 2014.

Magistrate Peter Law Tak-chuen said Tsang's actions at the scene appeared to be vicious. Tsang was accused of splashing liquid that smelled like urine on 11 police officers and resisting arrest by another four officers on Oct 15, 2014, as the police were clearing demonstrators from an underpass at Lung Wo Road in Admiralty.

Law said Tsang must have known clearly that a large number of police officers were lining up under the underpass. The act of intentionally pouring the liquid over the police officers amounts to assault, as the defendant undoubtedly showed hostility toward the officers while they were performing their duties, Law said.

The video presented as evidence in court showed Tsang resisting the subsequent arrest, Law said.

Tsang was acquitted of two other charges of resisting arrest, as the judge said it was a natural reaction for one to react with resistance after being pepper-sprayed.

During the trial, the identity of a man in two video clips was debated. A man in one wore goggles and a mask when splashing liquid; in the other a man wore a black T-shirt without a mask. The judge ruled that both were Tsang.

The 40-year-old activist had pleaded innocent.

Assaulting an officer and resisting arrest are both punishable by two years' imprisonment. Tsang will be sentenced on May 30.

The Occupy Central demonstrations broke out in 2014 after the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress issued a decision on universal suffrage in Hong Kong.

Legal proceedings against other protesters accused of crimes are ongoing.