CHRIS LAU AND SAMUEL CHAN
PUBLISHED : Monday, 19 October, 2015, 12:57pm
UPDATED : Monday, 19 October, 2015, 1:51pm
1.39pm: Lee leads dozens of police supporters in deriding a man, apparently an Occupy supporter, who walks by holding a sign that reads "civil disobedience".
She calls him "rubbish".
1.38pm: A police supporter accuses judges of holding double standards and leaning towards pro-democracy protesters.
Another protester mistakes Labour Party lawmaker Dr Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung for Ken Tsang Kin-chiu while yelling slogans, calling him "Tsang Chiu-hung".
1.30pm: Some photos from outside Eastern Court ...
1.20pm: Leticia Lee, a pro-Beijing figure who rose to fame in recent years, has arrived with supporters.
"We come here today as individuals, which is why we are not in uniform today," she says.
"The seven policemen are the conscience of Hong Kong."
"We love our righteous policemen!"
She appeals to the public to come to Eastern Court to show support for police.
She also asks the crowd to give the seven policemen a round of applause, though the applause turns out to be scattered.
1.11pm: About 40 police supporters from the Defend Hong Kong Campaign have filled one side of the designated protest area outside the court building.
Asked why he is here, a police supporter who refuses to give his name reads from his hand-written placard: "Those lawbreakers deserve to die, even God would have no mercy [on them]."
1pm: More police officers, in both plain clothes and uniform, have come as reinforcements to join dozens of their colleagues already at the scene. However, there is still no sight of Ken Tsang's supporters, nor were police supporter Leticia Lee and her Justice Alliance group anywhere to be seen.
Earlier report:
Seven policemen accused of beating up Occupy protester Ken Tsang Kin-chiu – along with Tsang himself – are making their first court appearances at Eastern Court this afternoon in separate cases that are closely connected.
The seven policemen face one joint count of causing Tsang grievous bodily harm with intent, with one facing an extra count of common assault. Tsang faces one charge of assaulting police and four counts of obstructing officers.
The seven policemen are: Chief Inspector Wong Cho-sing, Senior Inspector Lau Cheuk-ngai, Detective Sergeant Pak Wing-bun, and constables Lau Hing-pui, Chan Siu-tan, Kwan Ka-ho, and Wong Wai-ho. Chan faces the additional assault charge.
Tsang’s case is expected to be dealt with by a magistrate’s court, while the case of the seven policemen is expected to be transferred to the higher District Court, where they could face a maximum sentence of seven years in prison if convicted.
To implement crowd control measures, police arrived at Eastern Court before 10.30am to put up barricades and set aside three protest zones – two at the doorsteps of the court and one across Tai On Street off residential building Les Saisons in Sai Wan Ho.
Fu Chun-chung, convenor of anti-Occupy group Defend Hong Kong Campaign, arrived at the scene early with fellow members to set up banners.
The two zones outside the court have been occupied by supporters of the seven policemen since this morning, although a police officer said each camp – supporters of Tsang versus the seven policemen – was supposed to be allocated a space.
Police officers were seen inviting Fu and his fellow group members to join police supporters on the other side, but to no avail.
Some parties had informed the police about the protest, the police officer said, though she did not specify which parties.
Fu said he expected about 50 police supporters to join him, but they were of a different group summoned by another police supporter and founder of the Justice Alliance, Leticia Lee See-yin.
"Lee’s focus is to support the police, while we support Hong Kong in general," he stressed.
Earlier, Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung said he made the two cases coincide with each other as he wanted legal representatives to address Eastern Court on which case should be handled first. “This is most fair ... to both parties,” he said.
Legal experts note that the order of the trials could raise questions of witnesses’ credibility, with the result of the first trial having implications for the latter case.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1869302/occupy-protester-ken-tsang-and-seven-police-officers
