Two guilty of cleaver attack on Hong Kong editor Kevin Lau

Two men charged with attacking a former chief editor of a major Hong Kong newspaper with a meat cleaver last year were found guilty by a jury on Thursday.

Yip Kim-wah and Wong Chi-wah, both 39, were each convicted of one count of theft and another of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

Yip told police that an unidentified person had offered to pay them 100,000 HKD each to carry out the attack, but later alleged that they had only confessed to the crime under police torture.

Kevin Lau, who used to work with the Ming Pao newspaper, was assaulted in the street in February 2014. That trend has been reversed today.

Prosecutors said the men had each been offered the amount, but did not elaborate on the source.

During the trial, the court heard Lau was attacked from behind on a sidewalk in Sai Wan ho as he went for his usual breakfast at a restaurant there.

“I hope and I urge the police to make all efforts to continue the investigation until they find out the mastermind behind the crime“, a calm-looking Lau told reporters.

“Only then will the shadow cast on journalists by this violent attack be lifted”.

However, he also described the convictions of the two men as “significant for press freedom”.

While no motive was specified in court, Mr Lau, 50, said he felt he was targeted because of his job.

Yip and Wong had both pleaded not guilty to the charges, saying that they had nothing to do with the attack, and accused the police of beating them into confessions while in custody.

Police said Yip and Wong had been following Lau before the attack and fled to the mainland afterwards.

Both defendants are remanded in custody and sentencing will take place on August 21.

The attack came in the months before last year’s mass pro-democracy protests, and was widely seen as a warning to Hong Kong’s vibrant media that has remained a bastion of critical reporting on China, a far cry from mainland China where newspapers are subject to heavy censorship and state control.