Hong Kong police accused of waterboarding ‘Dragon Slaying Brigade’ member
- Lawyer of Christian Lee Ka-tin, accused of being part of 2019 bomb plot, says client was also beaten up during interrogation
Station Sergeant Fung Po-law took the witness stand in the High Court on Friday to respond to accusations by brigade member Christian Lee Ka-tin’s defence lawyer that he had slapped Lee, threatened to hang him on a tree and hurt his family if the suspect did not answer interrogators’ questions.
Lee and five other defendants – Cheung Chun-fu, Cheung Ming-yu, Yim Man-him, Lai Chun-pong and Justin Hui Cham-wing – are on trial for their alleged roles in a plot to plant two bombs in Wan Chai during anti-government protests in December 2019, with the police as their targets.
The court heard that Fung led a team of five officers who arrested Lee at his house in the Kwu Tung area of the northern New Territories on June 11, 2020, half a year after the brigade’s leader Wong Chun-keung was arrested.
Wong last month testified in court as a prosecution witness, alleging Lee had obtained a gun from the plot’s other mastermind, Ng Chi-hung, after he joined Ng’s team to test firearms in a suburb in November 2019.
Lee’s lawyer, Priscilia Lam Tsz-ying, accused Fung of intimidating her client during an interrogation by claiming Lee was “pretending” not to know where the gun was, and implying police knew he was lying when Wong had already informed on fellow team members.
Lam quoted Fung as saying to Lee during the interrogation: “Are you going to tell the truth or not? We are now giving you a chance to come clean, and then perhaps we’ll consider pressing charges for possession of firearms only. Otherwise, you are doomed.”
The lawyer said Lee had been handcuffed behind his back and forced to sit on a chair before being moved to a toilet, where he was aggressively questioned for up to 45 minutes.
Lam also said Lee had recounted how one of the officers grabbed his hair and pulled his head back, then placed a towel over his face and sprayed water on the towel from a shower head to waterboard Lee, leaving him breathless.
Lam added that other officers repeatedly kicked and punched Lee after he failed to say where he had hidden the gun that he allegedly possessed.
Fung denied all the allegations, saying none of the officers had used coercive methods to extract evidence from Lee.
Sabrina See, Lai’s defence counsel, said her client had also suffered unpleasant and violent treatment by police after he was arrested in January 2020.
See said Lai had lodged a complaint with the force’s Complaints Against Police Office, accusing Fung and other officers of stripping off his shirt and trousers, pulling his hair, and raising their voices at him during questioning.
The Complaints Against Police Office is part of the Complaints and Internal Investigations Branch of the force’s Service Quality Wing.
See quoted what Lai said he heard from Fung: “I do not care about the truth, I just need you to recite these names and say you know these people [in your statement]. You will only be released if you agree to do so, otherwise I will make sure you serve more than 10 years in prison.”
Fung denied that he had issued such demands or threats to Lai.
The court heard that Lai had remained silent throughout all his interviews with police.
The trial continues on Monday.
