Student accused of attacking senior Post editor Cliff Buddle pleads 'not guilty'
PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 08 October, 2014, 4:04pm
UPDATED : Wednesday, 08 October, 2014, 7:20pm
Chris Lau [email protected]
Cliff Buddle (left) was attacked by a 26-year-old mainlander (right).
A mainland student accused of assaulting University of Hong Kong lecturer and South China Morning Post editor Cliff Buddle has pleaded not guilty in court today.
Liu Lu, 26, who claimed to be a student from Beijing’ prestigious Tsinghua University, is facing a charge of common assault for attacking the Post‘s special projects editor.
Eastern Court principal magistrate Bina Chainrai heard that Liu pretended to be an HKU student and barged into a classroom at HKU’s Meng Wah Building, where Buddle was teaching a media law and ethics class on Monday.
Hearing Buddle conducting the class in English, he urged the lecturer to switch to Chinese, the court heard.
It is alleged that he then punched Buddle several times.
The defendant, who appeared in court in a black T-shirt, originally pleaded guilty to the charge, but was asked to change his plea after disputing part of the indictment read to him in court.
“I was not pretending [to be an HKU student],” Liu said.
Liu said: “I used a notebook, and it came into contact with him.”
He also said he did not have to be subdued after the alleged attack because he retreated on his own.
Chainrai set the trial for October 31. Liu complained of having to wait three weeks for the trial.
“It’s unfair to me,” he said. “If that’s the case, I’d apply for assistance from the Chinese government.”
The magistrate replied that he would ask correctional service officers to help Liu get in touch with representatives of the mainland government.
Liu was denied bail as the court decided that he did not have local ties.
The court also heard that Liu was in town on a travel visa, and that it would expire on October 11.
