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Story highlights
- Seven Hong Kong police officers face charges for assaulting protestor Ken Tsang
- In 2014, video captured Tsang being beaten by police during the Occupy protests
All the defendants faced one joint count of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, but in the end the city's court convicted them with a lesser charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
One of the defendants, policeman Chan Siu-tan, 31, was also found guilty of common assault for slapping social worker Ken Tsang Kin-chiu twice during an interview, at a police station in Hong Kong's Central district.
Chan could face a maximum of one more year in prison than his co-defendants. The verdict was handed down on Tuesday and court will resume on Friday for mitigation, where the defense will argue for a lighter sentence.
Outside the District Court, protestors who supported the policemen shouted slogans and faced off against pro-democracy supporters, who demanded justice.
Beating captured on video
Tsang, a member of Hong Kong's pro-democracy Civic Party, was beaten by the police officers on the night of October 15, 2014 during the large pro-democracy protests that were dubbed the "Umbrella Movement."
His beating was captured on video and caused widespread condemnation of police behavior in the city after it was aired on local TV station TVB.
Tsang, who was unarmed at the time, was hospitalized after the incident and sustained serious bruising.
In a separate case, Tsang was charged with assaulting police officers and resisting arrest on the same night he himself was beaten. He was found guilty in May 2016 and jailed for five weeks.s