Cops rally for jailed colleagues

TENS of thousands of policemen gathered at the Police Club (警察遊樂會) on Boundary Street (界限街) to show their support for the seven policemen jailed for assaulting Occupy activist Ken Tsang Kin-chiu (曾健超).

Addressing the rally, the leader of the Junior Police Officers’ Association (警察員佐級協會), Joe Chan (陳祖光), said they were there to “defend the force’s dignity”. He told the crowd that they would help the seven officers appeal their convictions and that he hoped their names would be cleared. Organisers estimate some 17,000 officers attended the rally.

Chan also said the founding chairman of the association, Beijing loyalist Maria Tam (譚惠珠), had agreed to help raise money.

Meanwhile, 2015 Miss Hong Kong pageant winner Louisa Mak Ming-sze’s (麥明詩) social media post on the matter kicked up a storm.

The 25-year-old Cambridge University (劍橋大學) law graduate questioned the rationale of people who support the seven policemen, saying that there is nothing unjust in punishing them.

Her stance generated personal attacks from some ‘disappointed fans’, but an overwhelming number of netizens praised her for speaking out.

She rebutted claims that officers should be spared as they were not saints and were under a lot of stress. “The fact that we are not saints and it is hard to suppress emotions is the very reason that we need punishment” as deterrence against unacceptable behaviour, she said.

(This article is published on Junior Standard on 28 February 2017)

Seven cops jailed for assaulting activist Ken Tsang
http://goo.gl/qA1huP

Support pledged for jailed offi cers
http://goo.gl/mLHhXj