HONG KONG - A Hong Kong police constable testified Friday that a Falun Gong practitioner bit her after being arrested during a protest in March.
Scuffling that broke out as police stopped the demonstration, and then inside police vehicles, left several people on both sides slightly injured with bruises.
"When I tried to separate two Falun Gong members, one of them bit me on my left forearm," said police constable Wong Mei-po on the 10th day of Hong Kong's first criminal trial against members of the meditation sect.
Sixteen Falun Gong followers, including four Swiss nationals, are accused of public obstruction during the protest March 14 outside the Chinese government liaison office here. Nine are accused of the more serious charge of obstructing the police, while three are accused of assaulting police.
Falun Gong says its demonstrations are always peaceful and the defendants say they are innocent of all charges.
But Wong testified that the fighting with Falun Gong members left her slightly injured with bruises on her neck.
The group is outlawed in mainland China as an "evil cult" and the authorities there are trying to eradicate it through an often deadly crackdown. Falun Gong remains legal in Hong Kong, however, and followers conduct frequent demonstrations against Beijing's suppression.