Hong Kong appeal court quashes man’s acquittal over 2019 Yuen Long attacks
Hong Kong Free Press
A man who was cleared of rioting and wounding charges over a mob attack in Yuen Long in 2019 has had his acquittal overturned.
Wong Chi-wai appeared at High Court on Wednesday to hear the verdict in an appeal against his acquittal launched by the Department of Justice.
He was among eight people tried at District Court in 2021 for rioting and wounding with intent over an incident on July 21, 2019, when a group of men wearing white attacked passengers in Yuen Long MTR station. While the other seven were convicted, Wong was found not guilty.
The appeal judges said in a judgement handed down on Wednesday that trial judge Eddie Yip had erred in determining that Wong was not among the attackers that evening.
Yip had mistakenly ignored the fact that police had retrieved a pair of sneakers worn by an attacker seen in video footage at Wong’s residence, as well as several other pieces of circumstantial evidence in the case, the judges added.
“Considering the coincidences of multiple factors such as time, place, distance, clothing, and other body features… Is [Wong] the offender? That’s the question that the trial judge should have asked,” the appeal judges wrote in Chinese.
They cancelled Wong’s non-guilty verdict and ordered his case to be reconsidered by Yip. Meanwhile, Wong was granted bail pending the next hearing in the District Court on October, 15.
Convictions quashed
Separately, four men found guilty when Wong was acquitted sought to appeal their convictions. Judges rejected the appeal bids by Tang Wai-sum, Ng Wai-nam, and Tang Ying-bun, but quashed the conviction of Choi Lap-ki over rioting and wounding with intent.
The judges said Choi, who is buck-toothed, was wrongfully asked to show his teeth in court by Yip and the prosecution to identify him as one of the attackers.
“The trial judge has wrongfully asked the defendant to assist with the prosecutions, and make his judgement that [Choi] was the offender based on this wrongfully obtained evidence,” the appeal judges wrote.
Choi was also photographed by the police without being warned that those images would be used against him in the trial, the judges added.
The judges said while they were “absolutely certain” Choi was the offender based on his appearance and facial features, the act of his identification involved subjective judgement.
Choi’s conviction and six-year sentence were quashed, though Choi had earlier this month completed his jail term, according to local media reports.
Ng and Tang Ying-bun, who were sentenced to four years and three-and-a-half years respectively, had also completed their jail terms. Tang Wai-sum, who was given a seven-year sentence, remains in prison, local media reported.
On July 21, 2019, over 100 rod-wielding men stormed Yuen Long MTR station leaving 45 people injured – including journalists, protesters, commuters and pro-democracy lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting. Police were criticised for responding slowly to the incident, with some officers seen leaving the scene or interacting with the white-clad men. The official account of the incident evolved over a year, with the authorities eventually claiming it was a “gang fight.”
Protests erupted in June 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.”
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