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was going home for lunch at 12.30 p.m. when he was accosted by tee men who beat him up. They said they were CID and took him to Wong Tai Sin Police Station (21st May, 1976) and charged him with being a trafid member. He was forced to sign a statement that traid poems were found on him. In court he pleaded Not Guilty.
was
a teacher part time, and a Form 5 student. As a result of the charge he missed the examinations that year. He also spent money on lawyers.
Eventually we asked Johnson Stokes to take his case. He was acquitted, due to lack of evidence. The lawyers advised him to take action against the police for compensation, and the police are now negotiating a settlement out of court.
6) L/1982/76
8
Redacted under FOI exemption 40(2)
This small boy was charged with mugging and robbery, the things allegedly stolen being 40 cents and a ball pen. He had no previous record. Pleaded Not Guilty. He was detained in the Begonia Boys Home on this trivial charge. In court he was found guilty and bound over for three years.
He insisted on his innocence and spent all his days crying. On appeal he was represented by lawyers supplied by the Dept. of Law of the University, and he was discharged, without bond.
7) L/2267/76
was going home after business, at 2 a.m. He was arrested and charged with Loitering, Going equipped for Stealing, and resisting Arrest. The "equipment" for stealing were house keys. He had no previous
He could prove the uses of all his keys.
record.
In court, the loitering and intent to steal charges were dismissed. He was bound over for resisting arrest (Surely an innocent citizen's right).
8) L/27/77
was charged with traid membership and theft from factory. He was given lawyer after referral to the Law Department of the University. On the count of theft, the magistrate dismissed the charge after question- ing the police and finding the evidence not satisfactory. On the traid count, the prosecution admitted the unsatisfactory nature of the evidence, and the charge was also dismissed.
There were many other cases in the year 1976-7. Only a few examples have been chosen.
2. Cases Reported through Prison
1) No. 387
said he was attacked by a gang.
His hand was badly injured, still shows scar. However, only he stood on charge of fighting.
2) Four prisoners were in Sha Tsui DC for violent youngsters, They had not been found guilty of any violence, only slight connection with traids after being pressured by school friends in past. This situation needs looking into. The Magistrates had wrongly directed, it seems. The names of the four were not recorded.
3)
Complaints of frame-ups were too numerous here to record. Some claimed that 70% were frame-ups, the reason being that most have a past conviction as drug addicts. The police have alwasy used drug addicts to stand in for crimes committed by their traid friends, or to enhance their detection rate.
There were many complaints of brutality by
this prison.
in
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