Hong Kong man jailed for 16 months over social media post about killing ex-leader Carrie Lam
Hong Kong Free Press
A Hong Kong man has been jailed for 16 months for inciting violence by asking on social media how to kill then-city leader Carrie Lam in 2020.
Pun Tak-shu was put behind bars by District Judge Stanley Chan on Monday, after he was found guilty last week of one count of “incitement to cause grievous bodily harm with intent” over a Facebook post he made in February 2020.
According to local media, the defence argued that Pun had shared the post on his personal account, which had a limited impact. Comments on the post were also “playful in nature,” Pun’s lawyer said.
The court received mitigation letters from Pun’s family and ex-colleagues, who described the defendant as a “kind and gentle” person. Pun’s representative pleaded for a lenient sentence citing Pun’s health condition and hospitalisation records.
In meting out Pun’s prison term, Chan criticised the defendant as not showing remorse in his mitigation. He regretted deleting the post, but not making the post, the judge said. Although the defendant said he did not intend to incite others to cause harm, the post had targeted the then-leader of Hong Kong, who was a figure of public authority.
Considering that the case took place in the aftermath of the 2019 protests, the court must take into account the political atmosphere and “radical ideology” at the time, the judge remarked.
Chan also cited a comment Pun made, which asked people to “help procure a colt pistol and a rifle, each with 50 rounds of ammunition.” The judge made reference to Hong Kong’s first trial under the UN (Anti-Terrorism Measures) Ordinance, in which some members of a team known as “Dragon Slayer” were sent to Taiwan for military training, while others managed to import guns to the city and some made bombs.
Some people might “get lost” in the social atmosphere and their behaviour may be radicalised by online discourse, Chan said.
The judge adopted 18 months of imprisonment as the starting point of Pun’s sentence. Taking into account the defendant’s health condition and the fact that he had not challenged most of the case details, Chan reduced the penalty by two months.
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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