Social worker who urged police restraint during 2019 demos has case to answer in rioting retrial, court rules
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong social worker Jackie Chen, who facing a second rioting trial after the government appealed against her acquittal, has a case to answer, a judge has ruled.
Chen, 47, appeared at the District Court on Friday for the fifth day of her retrial. The social worker has denied one count of rioting in relation to a protest on August 31, 2019. That day, demonstrators set up road blocks in Wan Chai and Admiralty, clashing with police officers who deployed tear gas and water cannon to disperse them.
The prosecution, which has summoned police officers to testify – and has shown CCTV and news footage to the court over the past few days – wrapped up its arguments on Friday.
Deputy District Judge May Chung ruled that, based on the prosecution’s statements, Chen has a case to answer, The Witness reported. If Chung had ruled the other way, Chen would have been cleared.
Four years ago, during Chen’s trial, a different judge ruled that the social worker had no case to answer after the prosecution completed its arguments. The judge, Sham Shiu-man, said the prosecution showed that Chen’s conduct and speech did not amount to an unlawful assembly, let alone a riot.
Chen was then acquitted. The trial continued for the rest of the seven defendants, who were also found not guilty in the end.
In their opening statements on Monday, the prosecution said Chen had taken part in a riot in the vicinity of Hennessy Road and Luard Road in Wan Chai on August 31, 2019.
Just before 6 pm that day, a crowd had gathered in the area, many of them wearing black tops, helmets and respirators. They began pushing garbage bins, plastic barriers and other items to block roads, Timmy Yip, a lawyer acting for the prosecution said.
The trial, which is expected to last 10 days, was adjourned to Monday. The defence said it had five letters from character witnesses – people who can testify to the good character of the defendant – that it would submit to the court.
Calls for restraint
Friday marked the fifth day of Chen’s retrial. On Thursday, a police officer who arrested Chen during the protest took the stand, telling the court that she was holding up a loudspeaker.
The officer, surnamed Lam, described Chen as wearing a black t-shirt, white pants and a pink respirator. As protesters were throwing petrol bombs and bricks at police officers, Chen repeatedly spoke through the loudspeaker telling police to be restrained and not to open fire, he said.
Lam confirmed during the defence’s cross-examination that he had arrested Chen for participating in an illegal assembly. Chen had resisted “a little bit” initially, he added.
When asked by the defence whether he had heard people saying that she was a social worker, Lam said he “did not hear that at the time.”
A member of the Battlefield Social Worker group, Chen was frequently seen on the frontlines of protests in 2019 when she volunteered to monitor police behaviour. She sought to liaise between protesters and the force and provide emotional support at demonstrations, often speaking to police officers through a loudspeaker and telling them not to deploy tear gas against reporters and residents without protective gear.
Under Hong Kong law, rioting is punishable by up to 10 years of imprisonment. Sentences handed down in the District Court are capped at a maximum of seven years.
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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