A HONG KONG court yesterday denied bail to a man involved in assaulting a reporter from the mainland during a recent unlawful assembly at the Hong Kong International Airport.

The Eastern Magistrates’ Court adjourned the case, in which the male, 19, was accused of unlawful assembly and assault occasioning actual bodily harm, on Oct. 28 for further police inquiries.

The man, surnamed Lai, was suspected of assaulting Fu Guohao, a journalist from Global Times, during the violent incident that occurred in the wee hours of Aug. 14 at Hong Kong International Airport.

The prosecutor stressed the severity of Lai’s violent acts as he continued the assault even after ambulance attendants had put Fu on a stretcher. Lai had been bailed after being arrested for charging the police line during a protest July 14 at New Town Plaza in Sha Tin District and was due in court Friday.

The defendant is likely to commit another offense at a major public event in the future, the prosecutor said.

During a press briefing of the Hong Kong police yesterday, Kong Wing-cheung, senior superintendent of the police public relations branch, said anyone who willfully commits violent acts at an international airport that endangers, or is likely to endanger, the safety of the airport or of other people faces a sentence of life imprisonment.

Kong said a total of 178 police officers had been injured since June 9.

Tse Chun-chung, chief superintendent of the Hong Kong Police Public Relations Branch, said no arrests were made during protests over the weekend.

“If the protests are peaceful, rational and orderly, the police will not and have no reason to intervene,” Tse said.

Tse said the police had appealed to the public to reject all forms of violence and revert to peaceful and orderly expression of speech as “violence is never a solution.” 

(Xinhua)