4 Hongkongers convicted of rioting over protest in July 2019 as judge questions possible delay in prosecution
Hong Kong Free Press
Four Hongkongers, including 19-year-old twins, have been convicted of rioting over a protest in July 2019 as a judge inquired whether there had been any delays in prosecution.
Dai Ka-ping, formerly a member of the Hong Kong Baptist University Students’ Union, his twin brother Dai Ka-ching, Chow Chi-wai and Yuen Yan-lam were found guilty of rioting on Tuesday in the District Court for participating in a protest in Admiralty on July 1, 2019, according to local media reports.
On that day, the 22nd anniversary since Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule, a large group of demonstrators gathered in Admiralty to protest a proposed amendment to the city’s extradition bill. Some broke into the city’s legislature that night, marking an escalation of violence during the months-long protests in 2019.
Five other defendants in the case pleaded guilty to rioting when the trial began in March 2023. Four were jailed between two years and two months, and two years and four months, while the remaining defendant was sentenced to a training centre.
The group was arrested in the morning of July 1, 2019, but were not taken to court to face the rioting charge until October 2022, more than three years since the incident.
Deputy District Judge David Cheung on Tuesday said he would look into whether there had been any delays in the prosecution as he asked prosecutors to provide a timeline of the case.
The judge also ordered an assessment for the Dai twins, who were aged 14 when the protest took place, to see whether a sentence involving a detention or training centre may be appropriate. Both are alternatives to imprisonment sometimes considered for young offenders.
The mitigation hearing was set for October 25 and sentencing for October 31. The four had their bail revoked and were remanded in custody.
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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