Senior police officers denied accusations of torture and mishandling of two men suspected of slashing former chief editor of Ming Pao Kevin Lau Chun-to last year. This is after defense lawyers tried to convince a High Court jury on Friday that both men were tortured and forced to confess to the crime.

Wong Chi-wah and Yip Kim-wah, both 38, were each accused of causing grievous bodily harm and stealing a motorcycle and a motor vehicle license.

Barrister Kevin Egan, representing Yip, hinted that the mainland police had threatened the defendants into making the confession because Lau's case was "a high-profile one" and "Hong Kong police were anxious to solve the case".

The court was told that both defendants were apprehended by mainland police officers on March 8, 2014. They were handed back to their Hong Kong counterparts on March 17 last year.

Egan questioned why the mainland police detained both defendants for nearly 10 days if they were not subjected to torture.

"I suggest that the PSB (public security bureau) were doing a dirty job for Hong Kong police," Egan said, in cross-examination of prosecution witness Superintendent Kwan King-pan.

The barrister also questioned why Kwan bypassed the liaison department of the Hong Kong police - whose main job is to liaise with the mainland public security authorities in handing over suspects. This required three inspectors to stay in Guangzhou to assist.

Egan argued that Kwan, in sending officers in Guangzhou to liaise, was trying to send a message to both defendants to cooperate, otherwise they would be left on the mainland and subjected to a more severe sentence, he contended.

Kwan disagreed with all the accusations made by Egan. Kwan said the reason he asked three officers to stay was because he did not know when and how they would be handed over until March 16 -the day before this occurred.

Wong's lawyer, Martyn Richmond, then, asked Kwan whether he offered a lenient sentence to Yip in exchange for the name of the mastermind behind the crime. Kwan also rejected this accusation.

Egan said he has approached mainland authorities to name the officer who arrested both defendants and provide a copy of the pair's confession, but this request was denied.

Earlier, the court heard in a video interview conducted by police that Wong confessed that he and Yip were paid HK$100,000 each to attack Lau in order to teach him a lesson.

He said he was told to slash Lau a few times on his hands and legs. Wong said his co-defendant Yip told him about the job and gave him the information he needed to carry out the crime. This included Lau's photo, residence address and car number plate.

In order to carry out the plan, the duo bought a meat cleaver and stole a motorcycle in Fanling and replaced the license plate with a stolen one.

The pair then followed Lau to learn about his routine. They then launched the attack on Feb 26, 2014 when Lau was leaving for a restaurant on Tai Hong Street in Sai Wan Ho to have breakfast. The veteran journalist was subsequently hospitalized for five months until July 15 last year. This was after recovering from six deep cuts in his back, hands and legs.

stushadow@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 08/01/2015 page3)