Jonathan Cheng and Winnie Chong, The Standard
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Charges have been dropped against 11 of 14 people arrested as a result of clashes during the World Trade Organization meeting in Wan Chai last month.
Three Koreans accused of attacking police officers still face trial.
Inside a packed courtroom at Kwun Tong Magistracy Wednesday, the three remaining defendants entered defiant pleas of not guilty and later vowed to prove their innocence.
Each was released on unconditional bail of HK$30,000 until March 1. They plan to return to South Korea tomorrow. The 11 whose charges were dropped included eight Koreans, a Japanese, a Taiwanese and a mainlander.
The prosecution brought charges of unlawful assembly, which can result in jail sentences of up to five years, against two of the remaining defendants.
But the charge against Yang Kyung Kyu, the Korean unionist identified by prosecutors as a “ringleader,” was downgraded to unauthorized assembly – a related charge that does not imply the use of violence but carries the same maximum punishment.
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