A designer who was charged with assault in relation to the 2014 pro-democracy Occupy protests is seeking compensation from the police for malicious prosecution and abuse of power.
The plaintiff, Wong Ho, filed a writ with the District Court on Tuesday. According to the document, police officer Tai Siu-fung claimed to have been assaulted outside Citic Tower on Lung Wui Road on September 2014, resulting in the prosecution against Wong.
Wong was charged with assault in September 2015, a year after the event. The trial was scheduled for last February, but – at the start of the court proceedings – the prosecution said it was moving to withdraw the charges after reviewing the evidence.
According to Ming Pao, the defence had found police footage which showed the plaintiff being pressed onto the ground and assaulted by a number of police officers before being arrested. The plaintiff’s defence counsel in the initial case had acted for several Occupy protesters and obtained the footage from other cases.
However, they had been told by the police they had no footage of the incident. The prosecution withdrew the charges after the footage was submitted to them.
Wong is now seeking a declaration from the court stating that Tai engaged in malicious prosecution and abuse of power, and that he inflicted bodily harm against Wong. Wong is also demanding compensation from Tai and the police commissioner.
