A man has fessed up to pelting media tycoon and outspoken Beijing critic Jimmy Lai with animal viscera during the Occupy Movement of 2014, the Eastern Magistrates’ Court heard today.
Yip Wing-chi, aged 44, pleaded guilty to one count of common assault while co-defendants Chan Kwok-hung, 30, and Li Siu-lung, 45 denied the very same charge.
According to the SCMP, the gut-chucking occurred when 67-year-old Lai was about to leave a tent at the Admiralty campsite at around 4.30pm on Nov. 12, 2014. Lai testified, “I heard someone call my name. When I turned I felt there was a bag thrown at me. It was putrid and oily.”
In the seconds it took for Lai to turn around, he claims around four or five more bags of animal organs were thrown at him. The offal reportedly splashed across Lai’s face and stained various parts of his clothes, but left him otherwise unscathed.
Lai said he didn’t get a good impression of his attackers since he was “in a state of shock”, but recalled that one perpetrator was a man with a ponytail and a built physique.
A video showing a man shouting Lai’s name as he was struck by two bags was shown in court.
Chan and Yip’s defence counsel, Francis Cheng, argued that Lai could not identify his attackers with certainty, as he claimed the first bag hit his face and “blurred [his vision]”.
Lai agreed with Cheng’s assertion that he would not have been able to see the three perpetrators’ faces.
Prosecutor Gekko Lan made the case to magistrate Lee Siu-ho that Yip, Chan and Li had orchestrated the attack together with the intent to harm Lai. “There is no need to prove that all three took part in the actual throwing,” Lan said.
Li’s defence counsel, Kenneth Ho, pointed out inconsistencies about where the bags struck Lai in his account of the attack.
The Next Media founder countered that he may have been confused about certain details, given that the entire ordeal lasted only for “five or six seconds”.
For Lai’s part, he seems to have taken the incident in his stride, a little better than Carrie did at least.
Chan and Yip were alleged to have also assaulted the “site marshal” Alex Kwok, who testified that he was trying to prevent the attackers from leaving.
Chan was also alleged to have assaulted another marshal, Ricky Or. Chan denied all three assault charges, while Yip denied assaulting Kwok.
The marshals were reported to have suffered minor injuries.
The case continues.
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