Detained Hong Kong activist Owen Chow seeks to appeal conviction over unapproved prison complaint
Hong Kong Free Press
Detained Hong Kong activist Owen Chow is seeking to overturn his conviction and sentence over removing a complaint form about corrections officers from prison without approval.
Chow was last month found guilty of breaking prison rules along with his solicitor Phyllis Woo over a plan to take Chow’s complaint form out of the detention centre.
The activist was sentenced to three days in prison to be served consecutively with a five-year sentence he is currently serving for rioting in 2019, while Woo was handed a HK$1,800 fine. Both have applied to overturn their convictions and sentences, local media reported.
No hearing date has been scheduled for the case.
Ombudsman complaint
Chow’s conviction was related to a complaint he intended to file to the government watchdog about corrections officers who had allegedly intercepted two books meant for him.
While Chow believed he would be denied authorisation to mail the complaint from prison, Principal Magistrate Ivy Chui said the document could have gone through, if only Chow had followed protocols.
“As a result of his personal experience and subjective views, [Chow] stubbornly passed the complaint form to [Woo]. I believe this was a reckless and foolish act,” Chui said during sentencing.
Chow was found guilty in May in a high-profile national security case relating to an unofficial primary election that aimed to select candidates for the Legislative Council election in 2020.
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