Hong Kong court upholds conviction of US attorney in scuffle with off-duty officer

A Hong Kong court upheld the conviction of a U.S. attorney on Monday in a case surrounding a scuffle he had with an off-duty police officer. 

Judge Esther Toh upheld a previous ruling against Samuel Bickett, 37, that he was guilty of assaulting an off-duty police officer in 2019, NBC News reported. 

Video was taken of Bickett getting into a scuffle with Officer Yu Shu-sang after Bickett saw him beating a teenager with a baton. 

In a chart released by Bickett Monday detailing the issues he found with the judge’s verdict, he said Yu did not identify himself as an officer and that he was using unreasonable force against the teenager even if he had done so. 

Bickett also stated that Yu lied about the teenager’s crime at the time of the incident, stating they committed a more serious crime than he did to justify the use of force. Although Toh recognized the officer lied, the judge felt the lie was justifiable.

The judge rejected the defendants calling a baton a weapon and said the incident “was an assault, no matter what happened before, no matter if it was big or small, no matter if it was once or twice.”

Bickett was already in jail for a few weeks last year, according to NBC News, and was sent back for the remaining four months of his sentence. Bickett said he will appeal the case again. 

“I will appeal today’s decision and continue to fight to overturn the verdict. Despite today’s frustrating ruling, I am grateful that the injustices committed against me are drawing attention to the threats to the rule of law in this city that I love dearly,” he said. 

Freedoms in Hong Kong have been limited since the national security law was implemented in 2020, making it harder for citizens to challenge authority.