Hong Kong lawmaker’s bid to call 70 defence witnesses in assault trial rejected a second time

Radical lawmaker Wong Yuk-man was rejected a second time in his application for summonses from the court to call 70 defence witnesses in a trial over his alleged assault on Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying in July 2014.

Eastern Court magistrate Chu Chung-keung ruled that Wong’s application did not meet legal requirements.

The same magistrate had rejected Wong’s request on March 10 as he found that Wong failed to show that his potential witnesses had seen the incident and would be able to assist the court in understanding the sequence of events.

Court rejects Hong Kong lawmaker’s bid to summon 70 officials and lawmakers to testify at his assault trial

But Chu said he would reconsider if Wong could provide the personal details of the government official whom Wong claims talked to him after the alleged incident, saying: “Don’t be so radical, throwing a glass.”

The magistrate said the comment suggested that the official may have seen what happened and could therefore provide key evidence to help the court.

Wong, 64, allegedly assaulted the city’s leader by throwing a glass and a sheaf of documents during a question-and-answer session on July 3, 2014 in the Legislative Council chamber.

The ruling on Friday meant Wong will not have any defence witnesses when the case returns to Eastern Court for trial on April 11 since he had previously told the court he could not find anyone to testify for him.

The prosecution, meanwhile, is expected to summon at least 20, including Leung and his bodyguards as well as one lawmaker.