Fiery ex-Hong Kong lawmaker claims his assault trial involving CY Leung was unfair
Wong Yuk-man argues on appeal that nobody would represent ‘hot potato’ of a case involving city’s top official, leaving him ill-suited to represent himself
A former Hong Kong lawmaker jailed for hurling a glass at the city’s top official in 2014 argued in his appeal on Monday that he had been deprived of a fair trial.
Wong Yuk-man complained that the trial magistrate had erred in allowing prosecutors to give closing submissions, despite a century-old principle barring such practice when a defendant did not hire a lawyer or summon witnesses other than himself, as in the present case.
The complaint – the first of Wong’s seven grounds of appeal – hinges on an interpretation of the Magistrates Ordinance, whose relevant clauses have already been tabled for the Court of Final Appeal’s determination in a separate case to be heard in June.
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The high-profile case broke ground in the city as it was the first time for a sitting chief executive to testify in a court case. Leung claimed that he froze during a question-and-answer session on July 3, 2014, explaining he was shocked by the noise of the glass Wong threw shattering behind him.
I had to handle the case by myself. It wasn’t a fair trial
But Wong told the High Court on Monday that his conviction ought to be quashed because he had been deprived of a fair trial.
