2019 demos: Hongkonger gets 5 months jail for possessing 2 laser pointers, 4 years after arrest

Hong Kong Free Press

A 40-year-old man has been sentenced to five months in prison for having two laser pointers in his possession during the 2019 protests and unrest.

Chu Kai-lun appeared before Magistrate Kestrel Lam at Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts on Friday, almost four years after he was initially arrested on October 27, 2019 for possessing two laser pointers. In sentencing Chu, Lam reportedly called his offense “serious,” saying that he could have caused serious harm with the two laser pointers.

Hong Kong’s courts first convicted an individual for possession of a laser pointer in the context of offensive weapons in November of 2019, when a 16-year-old faced charges for carrying a laser pointer, hiking pole, and modified umbrella.

Protesters used the bright beams of laser pointers on police officers during the protests that erupted in 2019 over a since-axed extradition bill. They escalated into sometimes violent displays of dissent against police behaviour, amid calls for democracy and anger over Beijing’s encroachment. Demonstrators demanded an independent probe into police conduct, amnesty for those arrested and a halt to the characterisation of protests as “riots.”

After pleading not guilty earlier this January, Chu told the court last month that he indeed had the laser pointers, but only intended to use them to fend off the monkeys that were near his home, local media reported.

august 17 mong kok china extradition (7) — Photo: May James/HKFP.

When he was arrested in 2019, he was found wearing a cap and a mask, with a white flag in his backpack with the words “Hong Kong independence” printed on it, local media reported last month.

He also had, among other things, a pair of black sunglasses, gloves, a black towel, black hiking sleeves, a collapsible umbrella, some saline solution, a gas mask filter, and a grey Nokia mobile phone.

Epilepsy

On Friday, Chu’s lawyer told the court in mitigation that the defendant suffered from epilepsy from a young age, and had previously found work as a scaffolder on a construction site. But a doctor advised against working full time, and to instead rely on social security payments.

The court also heard that the defendant did not cause police officers any harm, and that the chance that he would commit a repeat offense was not high.

Laser pointer protest Hong Kong Space Museum — Laser pointer protest at Hong Kong Space Museum. Photo: Supplied.

Lam said he acknowledged that Chu, who was unemployed at the time of his arrest, suffered from epilepsy, and was therefore unfit to contribute to society. He also noted the defendant’s good behaviour as well as a social worker’s positive appraisal.

But Lam maintained that Chu had committed a “serious” offense, though he fortunately did not use the laser pointers nor cause any harm.

Handing down Chu’s sentence, the judge said the defendant had suffered “mental stress” while awaiting trial, which would have aggravated his condition. Judge Lam took a starting point of six months and reduced the sentence to five months’ imprisonment after having considered Chu’s poor physical condition.

Keith Fong District Court — Former president of the Hong Kong Baptist University student union Keith Fong photographed outside the District Court on December 6, 2021. Photo: Supplied.

Last February, former Hong Kong Baptist University student leader Keith Fong was acquitted of a weapons possession charge after he was arrested in August 2019 for buying 10 laser pointers. The court ruled that while it was “suspicious” of Fong to buy 10 laser pointers, it was difficult to determine how he would actually use them.

But Fong was found guilty of resisting a police officer during his arrest and perverting the course of justice.

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