HONG KONG | Activist beaten by police sentenced to prison

Hong Kong activist Ken Tsang (center)

A Hong Kong activist whose beating by police was caught on video was sentenced yesterday to five weeks in prison on charges related to the confrontation, stirring outrage among pro-democracy supporters.
Local broadcaster RTHK said Ken Tsang was sentenced on charges of assaulting police and resisting arrest stemming from the October 2014 incident at the height of street protests that had gripped the semiautonomous southern Chinese city.
A TV station videotaped police officers carrying Tsang away in handcuffs and then punching and kicking him in a dark corner of a public park. At the time, demonstrators protesting Beijing’s plans to restrict elections for Hong Kong’s top leader were tangling with authorities during a pre-dawn clash for control of an underpass next to city government headquarters.
Tsang, who prosecutors said splashed an unknown liquid on officers trying to clear demonstrators from the underpass, was found guilty last week. Seven officers are to go on trial this week over the beating.
“Even though I’m disappointed and sad about the legal judgment, I still respect the legal system in Hong Kong,” said Tsang, who was freed on bail after he filed an appeal.
“We’re going to stand until the last minute. We’re going to fight until the end. We never give up,” Tsang told reporters. He was surrounded by supporters carrying yellow umbrellas, which became a symbol of the protest movement that brought key sections of the Asian financial hub to a standstill for 79 days. AP