Hong Kong doctor whose clinic caught fire from tear gas in 2019 appeals court decision over damages
Hong Kong Free Press
A doctor whose clinic caught fire from a stray tear gas canister during protests in 2019 has lodged an appeal against a court’s decision to deny a request for the city’s police chief to take the stand and answer for the incident.
Kenneth Leung, appearing before judge Queeny Au-Yeung at the High Court on Thursday, demanded that police commissioner Raymond Siu take the stand to explain the findings of a police investigation into a misfired tear gas canister that landed in Leung’s Tsim Sha Tsui clinic and started a fire.
Leung filed a writ in 2021 to claim HK$6.72 million as compensation for damages from the city’s police force over the projectile. Last month, High Court Master Ho Chi-yin denied Leung’s request, ruling that Siu was not involved in the operation.
Judge Au-Yeung said the court would hand down its decision by the end of this month.
Identification ‘impossible’
The incident happened in November 18, 2019, when violent clashes broke out between protesters and police officers near Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
Leung on Thursday asked the court to overturn its previous ruling and to have Siu testify in court, along with an officer on the scene at the time and another who applied for a warrant to search Leung’s clinic.
He alleged that there were more than 10 police officers outside his clinic who did not report the fire, and demanded that a constable present at the time of the incident be summoned to explain why he did not detect the fire.
Au-Yeung cited the police’s submission, which claimed that it was possible that someone could have picked up and thrown the canister into Leung’s clinic amid the chaos.
Jolie Chao, a private lawyer representing the government, argued that it was “impossible” to identify who had fired the tear gas. But Leung questioned how that was possible, even after three years of investigations.
Leung’s writ alleges that police officers misfired two tear gas canisters into two first-floor apartments on Austin Road, according to local media. Negligence on the part of the police caused considerable damage in his flat, he said.
The writ also came enclosed with a Fire Services Department document stating that the fire was caused by the heat from the tear gas canister.
Protests erupted in June 2019 over a since-axed extradition bill. They escalated into sometimes violent displays of dissent against police behaviour, amid calls for democracy and anger over Beijing’s encroachment. Demonstrators demanded an independent probe into police conduct, amnesty for those arrested and a halt to the characterisation of protests as “riots.”
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