A former senior Hong Kong national security official, caught in a massage parlor during a police operation, assured Tuesday August 16 that he had never paid for sexual services.
Frederic Choi, 51, was number two in the police's national security department, created in July 2020 after Beijing imposed a national security law to quell pro-democracy protests.
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He was in a clandestine massage parlor in the Wan Chai neighborhood - a short walk from police headquarters - which authorities accuse of offering sexual services, when police raided it in March 2021. An investigation by the Justice Department had quickly cleared Frederic Choi and he was later reassigned to the post of chief of police training and discipline.
On Tuesday, he assured a court that no one at the massage parlour, which he frequented four or five times over nine months, had offered him sexual services.
But he admitted that he did not know the manager and staff of the place and that his information was limited.
He was speaking as a defense witness in the trial against three women and one man, accused of offering such services.
Closing arguments are scheduled for September 23.
Frederic Choi's reputation has been shaken by the incident, at a time when Hong Kong authorities are trying to rebuild the image of law enforcement after violent clashes in 2019 between police and pro-democracy protesters.