Elderly Hongkonger known for protest song performances pleads not guilty to 7 permit violations
Hong Kong Free Press
An elderly Hong Kong man has pleaded not guilty to seven counts of ticketed charges for allegedly playing the erhu and collecting funds in public without government permission. The retiree was acquitted of a similar charge for performing with the traditional Chinese musical instrument at a bus terminus.
Li Jiexin is known for playing the pro-democracy protest song Glory to Hong Kong, which was popularised during the 2019 protests and unrest.
The first day of a three-day trial against Li was heard by Magistrate Gary Chu at Shatin Magistrates’ Courts on Monday morning.
During the hearing, the 69-year-old pleaded not guilty to four counts of playing a musical instrument without a permit and three counts of collecting money in a public place without permission.
He was said to have played the erhu with an amplifier without permission from the police chief outside Mong Kok East and Tai Wai MTR stations, and on a footbridge outside of Central’s International Financial Centre on four occasions between August 3, 2021 and September 29, 2022.
Additionally, Li was accused of organising, participating in, or providing equipment for the collection of money in public places without a permit from either the director of social welfare or the secretary for home and youth affairs on three occasions outside Tai Wai MTR station and in Central between June 24 and September 29 last year.
Prosecutor absent with Covid
At the beginning of the hearing, the prosecution said the senior prosecutor in charge of his case, Lam Hiu-man, could not attend court as she had contracted Covid-19 last Wednesday and was still returning positive test results on Monday morning.
The government lawyers asked the court to either delay the summoning of prosecution witnesses until Tuesday or adjourn the entire trial. They said a total of 12 witnesses will be summoned to court.
Li, who represented himself at the hearing, opposed the prosecution’s request. “Hong Kong has so many prosecutors. I am one against 12 or 13… it is completely disproportionate.” Li added.
The magistrate said he believed it would be “more appropriate” for Lam to handle the questioning of witnesses as this trial was “different from other typical, simple and short cases.”
According to the admitted facts read out by the prosecution, Li agreed that he was playing erhu in public places during the time in question. “The facts are basically here, but I am not guilty,” Li said.
After Li entered his plea and the prosecutors read out the admitted facts, the magistrate adjourned the hearing to Tuesday morning.
During the pre-trial review in April, Li had told the court that the song he played was not the 2019 protest anthem, but a parody of it by pro-Beijing lawmaker Julius Ho.
The maximum sentence for each count of charge Li faced would be HK$2,000 of fine or three months of imprisonment.
Previous acquittal
Last year, Li was charged after allegedly playing his erhu in public without a police permit at Tung Chung’s bus terminus. He was initially cleared of the charge by Deputy Magistrate Felix Tam in August, who ruled that the prosecution had not produced sufficient evidence. Days after, Tam reversed his decision and decided that Li had a case to answer.
It was established that Li had played Glory to Hong Kong. He was eventually acquitted of the charge after a trial last October.
The authorities have refused to say if the song is unlawful, though it is banned in schools and police have intervened when it is played in public.
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