Hong Kong man found guilty of inciting violence over social media post about killing former leader Carrie Lam
Hong Kong Free Press
A Hong Kong man has been found guilty of inciting violence over a social media post asking how to kill former city leader Carrie Lam.
Pun Tak-shu, 64, was found guilty of one count of incitement to cause grievous bodily harm with intent before District Judge Stanley Chan at the District Court on Wednesday, over remarks made on Facebook in February 2020.
Chan on Wednesday ruled that “radical” violent action could not be considered an impossibility of Pun’s actions given the sieges of two local universities and the storming of the city’s legislature in 2019, casting aside the defence’s argument that Pun did not think his remarks could possibly have incited anyone.
Pun had earlier testified that he was only joking and that nobody of “normal intelligence” would have taken his comments seriously. He also said it was unlikely someone would have the weapons necessary to commit acts of violence against Lam.
“How could the defendant possibly know what more than 700 people were thinking? [Pun] never told any of his friends that the above messages were meant to be jokes and not to be taken seriously,” Chan said in Cantonese, referring to the 766 people Pun was friends with on the social media platform.
The prosecution alleged that Pun’s post garnered 43 comments from 18 accounts, as well as 16 likes, while eight to 10 people were restricted from viewing the post. Pun also replied to comments, saying in one instance that one would have to use firearms to kill the former leader.
The judge added that Pun had two years between the date of the post and his arrest in April 2022 to add a disclaimer to his post.
Intentions ‘downplayed’
The defence argued that Pun, though crass in his expression, did not intend to incite violence and did not provide concrete suggestions as to how one might kill the chief executive. Chan rejected that argument, saying that Pun “purposefully” played down his intentions, and had used the Facebook post to stimulate discussion.
Chan also pointed to Pun’s testimony that he was dissatisfied with ex-leader Lam’s governance in 2020, and that he believed such a stance was shared by the vast majority of Hongkongers. Pun, according to the judge, “genuinely” wished harm upon the chief executive, “whether it be injury, whether it be illness.”
The judge also ruled that Pun’s actions could not be considered in a vacuum, in isolation from the politically charged social atmosphere in February 2020. Chan also said that whether or not people were actually incited by Pun’s words was irrelevant, as Pun had committed the offence regardless.
Protests erupted in June 2019 over a since-axed extradition bill, escalating into sometimes violent displays of dissent against police behaviour, amid calls for democracy and anger over Beijing’s encroachment. The protests continued into 2020, although pandemic-related social distancing measures largely stopped large-scale gatherings. In June 2020, national security legislation was passed which essentially put a stop to protests in the city.
Chan also said Pun’s post could have had a “multiplier effect” once shared by his audience, which included more than a hundred people who were not from Hong Kong.
Pun will face sentencing next Monday.
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