Another Acquittal in Protest Prosecutions

Social worker Hui talks to the media after being acquitted

 

The prosecutions against people charged with various offenses during last year's protests continue, and yet not all of them lead to successful convictions. If anything a number of them are acquitted because of lack of evidence, or in this latest case, police officers are unreliable witnesses.

Yesterday a social worker was acquitted of obstructing police when officers were arresting protesters in September last year. In fact the magistrate found Hui Lai-ming to be "very cooperative" and ordered prosecutors to pay for her legal costs.

The trial was heard at West Kowloon Court

On September 29, 2019, Hui observed police apprehending more than 100 protesters in Admiralty. However, the 52-year-old director of the Hong Kong Social Workers' General Union was accused of pushing Constable Chong Tik-long twice that evening.

Before Hui's trial began last Thursday, her lawyer asked prosecutors to drop the charge of assaulting a police officer, due to new video evidence that showed the social worker did not attack the policeman.

Then prosecutors changed the charge, accusing Hui of wilfully obstructing the officer, which carries a maximum sentence of two years.

But Magistrate May Chung Ming-sun found Chong to be an unreliable witness, citing "major differences" between his evidence and the defence's footage of the incident.

Chong testified Hui appeared very emotional and kept pushing a police cordon in an attempt to get closer to the arrested protesters.

Hui was accused of obstructing a police officer

However, the magistrate found that account unsubstantiated, pointing to footage that showed a peaceful Hui moving away from the scene. Chung said the footage in fact showed the defendant being pushed to the roadside by a group of officers, including Chong.

In addition, the officer fell on the ground later, not because the defendant shoved him, but because he lost his balance during the confusion. He fell a second time when another officer grabbed the defendant's hand and swung it at him accidentally.

"[Chong] fell on both occasions by accident. The defendant had no intention to assault [him]," Chung said. "The defendant had been very cooperative. She had no intention to resist police."

Hui said her acquittal was thanks to friends who put in a lot of effort to find the video evidence to prove her innocence. 

"It was through everybody's effort that we obtained the footage so that I could have a fair trial." she said, adding when the verdict was read out, she started crying, tears of joy.

Many protest-related prosecutions are acquitted

Even after Hui's lawyer told prosecutors it had fresh evidence, they still went ahead with the court case which obviously led to an acquittal and wasted taxpayer money. 

Perhaps what is worse is that these officers who give unreliable testimony are not punished for this; in other jurisdictions this would be perjury.

Is that because going down that route would be tedious? Or with so many cases going through the courts that there isn't time to do more than a slap on the wrist of the officers involved?

In any event the number of acquittals continues to rise, making the Department of Justice look less credible day after day...