Tuesday 7 October 2014

Man accused of sexually harassing protester vows to sue Occupy leaders and Apple Daily

A restaurant owner accused of sexually harassing a young female protester may try to sue the organisers of Occupy Central.

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Guanyu said...

Man accused of sexually harassing protester vows to sue Occupy leaders and Apple Daily

Shirley Zhao
07 October 2014

A restaurant owner accused of sexually harassing a young female protester may try to sue the organisers of Occupy Central.

Raymond Liu Wai-man is already seeking to establish a libel case against a newspaper that he says portrayed him negatively in its report. But his lawyers said on Monday that they had also been collecting evidence to see if it was possible to sue the organisers over losses suffered by Liu’s crab restaurant chain as a result of the protests.

The chain, Hee Kee Crab General, has four branches in Causeway Bay, Wan Chai and Tsim Sha Tsui, which Liu said were all affected by the Occupy protests.

He said he had lost up to 80 per cent of his business – at least HK$500,000.

In widely circulated photographs, the restaurateur is seen clinging to the right leg of a young female protester during a scuffle between pro- and anti-Occupy people in Causeway Bay on Friday.

The young woman, who screamed “harassment” when it happened and cried afterwards, later identified herself as a student at the Academy for Performing Arts.

The Apple Daily published an article the next day headlined “Anti-Occupy Central person arrested for sexually harassing young woman”.

Liu’s lawyers announced yesterday that they had written to Next Media, which owns Apple Daily, to demand an apology by the end of Thursday and a promise that the paper would never run any “untrue reports” again.

If the group did not meet the deadline, they could consider further actions such as a libel suit against the company, including a demand for compensation for Liu’s business losses, the lawyers said.

Pauline Chew Pui-lai, one of Liu’s lawyers, said Liu was taken to the police station but was not arrested. She said Liu made a bodily harm report to the police after finding he had suffered bruises during the Causeway Bay scuffle.

Liu showed several bruises on his arms and legs on Monday, although he did not offer proof that they were caused during the scuffle.

He said his neck was so painful that he could not chew.

He said he joined the anti-Occupy Central group because his business had been harmed by the rallies. Liu said he fell to the ground during the chaos and had to grab whatever was closest to him for support.