Seven Hong Kong police officers were on Thursday charged for attacking a protestor during last year's pro-democracy demonstrations, the media reported on Thursday.
Activist Ken Tsang was filmed being led away in handcuffs and beaten by police for several minutes on October 15, last year. The case received widespread criticism of the police force.
In Hong Kong, the charge of shooting or attempting to shoot, or wounding or striking with intent to do grievous bodily harm carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, the South China Morning Post reported.
All seven officers have been released on bail and are due to appear at the Eastern Court on Monday. There would be no plea and the prosecution would apply to have the case transferred to the District Court for trial.
The District Court, however, can only hand down jail terms of up to seven years. The prosecution can apply to have a case heard in a lower court than the high court - which handles more serious cases with penalties of more than seven years - if they think it does not warrant a jail term longer than that.
The seven officers reported back to duty on Thursday after being suspended for almost a year.
The incident took place during mass pro-democracy demonstrations and sit-ins that drew tens of thousands at their peak and paralysed Hong Kong's streets for more than two months.
