4 Hong Kong police officers lose appeal over drug-planting cover-up

Four police officers have lost their bids to overturn their convictions and sentences for framing a street sleeper for possessing drugs and covering up evidence of their actions six years ago, with the judges ruling that they had abandoned the rule of law.

The High Court. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

The Court of Appeal on Thursday ruled against the four police officers, saying in a judgment that the officers had intended to pervert the course of justice when they tried to block surveillance cameras while their colleagues planted evidence on the homeless man.

After they were found guilty in September 2024, police officers Leung Fei-pang, Pong Chun-sze and Chan Sau-yip sought to overturn their sentences and convictions, while Wan Pak-sze only filed an appeal against her sentence.

Police officer Chan Sau-yip on October 10, 2022. Photo: Kelly Ho/HKFP.

The four officers, along with two others, were found guilty of perverting the course of justice for framing Le Van Muoi, a street sleeper from Vietnam.

The case involved two police drug sweeps in 2020 around Tung Chau Street Park – home to many of the city’s street sleepers.

While Wan wrote in her notebook that Le had drugs on him, Leung, Pong, and Chan obstructed surveillance cameras in the area, according to the judgment.

Separately from the six convicted officers, two others – Kwok Chin-sing and Hon Ting-kwong – were acquitted after the judge found there was not enough evidence to find them guilty.

‘Departure from rule of law’

In his Thursday judgment, Justice Derek Pang said that interfering with surveillance footage, which serves to provide an objective record, “inevitably has a tendency to pervert the course of justice.”

High Court Judge Derek Pang. Photo: Judiciary.

Pang, along with Justices Keith Yeung and Andrew Chan, rejected the officers’ argument that their cover-up had no material impact on legal proceedings, and that they did not intend to interfere with the course of justice.

Pang added: “The public naturally expects police officers to actively combat crime. But if they become overzealous to the point of framing someone without evidence because they believe that person to be guilty, that becomes another crime that causes even greater harm and marks a departure from the rule of law.”

Citing the lower court’s ruling, which considered the case to be a serious one, Pang also rejected the officers’ argument that they were acting under orders.

Le, a 54-year-old street sleeper from Vietnam, was arrested after the incident and charged with drug possession. He died whilst in the custody of the Correctional Services Department (CSD) six months later. His death was ruled a suicide by the Coroner’s Court in November 2023.