Charge against student accused of conspiring to wound Hong Kong police and anti-epidemic workers dropped
Hong Kong Free Press
A Hong Kong court has dropped a criminal charge against a student originally accused of conspiring to wound police officers and healthcare workers during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Chang Pui-sin, who was 16 years old when she was charged with conspiracy to wound with intent in 2022, was accused of conspiring to “unlawfully and maliciously wound other people” between February 8 and May 7.
Escorted by a corrections officer to the District Court dock on Monday, Chang could be seen dabbing at her tears. She pleaded not guilty to the charge last June and was released on bail. Four others – Chan Sze-lok, 36, Lee Ho-yuen, 18, Wong Yuu-ro, 36, and 19-year-old Choi Kai-min – pleaded guilty and are set to be sentenced next month.
But District Court Judge Ernest Lin on Monday morning said that remarks made by Chang in a Telegram group were not sufficient proof that she was in an agreement with others to wound people.
According to case details, the five made remarks about killing police officers and anti-epidemic workers, as well as people who endorsed the government’s Covid-19 policies.
Over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, Hong Kong saw stringent restrictions that resulted in prosecutions and subsequent jail terms on several occasions.
Chang, who was an administrator of the Telegram chat, had similar views with other members of the group, Judge Lin said. Chang labelled people who supported the government’s Covid policy as “slaves to the authorities” and had also said she hoped they would “die sooner,” Lin said.
She had also said that the negative side effects of receiving the Covid vaccine outweighed the positives, and agreed that the government and pharmaceutical corporations had conspired to oppress the underclasses, Lin added.
When Chang’s co-defendant Chan asked members of the group whether they would kill supporters of the government’s Covid controls, Chang said she would, and added: “It’d be better if we had weapons.”
But she said she did not know how to acquire or store weapons without getting caught, Lin said. She then said she would be interested in buying weapons and equipment that Chan said he could procure online, including gas masks, extendable batons, and drones.
No proof of conspiracy
However, Judge Lin said Chang’s comments were merely an “emotional outlet,” adding that the prosecution was not able to prove that Chang was guilty without a reasonable doubt as there was no concrete proof to show that she had been involved in a detailed plan to harm police officers and healthcare workers.
“Other than the fact that her remarks were irresponsible and also childish to the extent that they might have been considered laughable, there was no proof that she was in agreement [with others] to wound with intent,” Lin said, delivering his verdict in Cantonese.
Several members of the public gallery began sobbing as the charge against Chang was dropped, while others wore expressions of surprise.
Chang’s actions, Lin ruled, did not amount to an act of conspiracy, which, in common law jurisdictions, must involve an agreement between two or more persons to effect an unlawful purpose.
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