Retired police superintendent Franklin Chu has pleaded not guilty to assaulting Occupy Hong Kong protesters with a baton during the 2014 protests.
Chu, 57, pleaded not guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm in West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court at 8am today, Post 852 reports. His case has been adjourned until June 9.
Chu was arrested on Monday, 853 days after he was filmed apparently hitting protesters in Mong Kok with a baton. Nine protest leaders, including students and academics, were also arrested on the same day for causing a public nuisance or inciting others to do so during the 2014 rallies.
Last month, seven police officers were sentenced to two years in jail for beating pro-democracy protester Ken Tsang, who was also jailed for five weeks, after he was poured an unidentified liquid on other police officers and resisted arrest.
Following the police officers’ sentencing, a large closed-door rally was held for their supporters and colleagues, during which a serving cop actually compared the negative backlash to police brutality to the persecution of Jewish people in Nazi Germany.
