Claims of 'political suppression' in case of Ken Tsang Kin-chiu, who accuses police of beating him, are 'absolutely groundless', says Rimsky Yuen
SAMUEL CHAN SAMUEL.CHAN@SCMP.COM
PUBLISHED : Friday, 16 October, 2015, 2:03pm
UPDATED : Friday, 16 October, 2015, 5:31pm
Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung dismissed Tsang’s claims. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Hong Kong’s justice minister today again denied politics played any part in a decision to prosecute an Occupy activist hours after seven police officers he accused of beating him were formally charged yesterday.
After a 90-minute session at Central police station yesterday described as “arrest by appointment”, Ken Tsang Kin-chiu, of the Civic Party and a member of the 1,200-strong election committee that elected Leung Chun-ying chief executive in 2012, described the surprise decision to press charges against him as “political suppression” and an attempt to divert the public’s attention from a case of police brutality.
But speaking at noon today, Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung dismissed Tsang’s claim as “absolutely groundless”.
READ MORE: Occupy protester Ken Tsang faces charges of assaulting Hong Kong police
“Any suggestion that the prosecution of Mr Tsang is to blacken his character or his reputation is absolutely groundless,” Yuen said.
Politics had never been a consideration when it came to decisions by prosecutors to press charges, and was not a reason why it took a year after the incident to press charges in this case, he said.
“The prosecution has already commenced proceedings, therefore it is not appropriate for me to go into the details.”
He also again defended the decision to have Tsang and the seven officers appear in the same court on the same day, which he said was for the sake of procedural fairness for all parties involved and was in accordance with legal advice from a local senior counsel and an independently hired queen’s counsel. It would then be the judge’s decision to decide which case would be heard first, he added.
In a statement issued last night, the Department of Justice said Tsang would be tried in the Magistrates’ Courts while the trial against the seven officers would be conducted at the District Court.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1868352/hong-kong-justice-minister-again-denies-politics-played
