Hong Kong man jailed for 2 years over online comments linked to stabbing of police officer in 2021
Hong Kong Free Press
A Hong Kong man has been jailed for two years for inciting violence against the police by leaving anonymous comments online following the stabbing of a police officer on the city’s Handover anniversary in 2021.
Deputy District Judge Amy Chan put Yung Cheong-ming, 25, behind bars on Friday, after convicting him at an earlier hearing of inciting others to wound with intent, local media reported. The comments Yung left on discussion forum LIHKG amounted to directly challenging the police and posed a serious threat to Hong Kong’s security, the judge ruled.
Yung was said to have made online comments related to an incident on July 1, 2021, when a man stabbed a police officer before taking his own life, on the anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover to mainland China. The officer survived, sustaining injuries to his left shoulder blade.
The incident was labelled as a “lone wolf local terrorist act” by the government, while those who mourned the death of the stabber were condemned by the authorities as encouraging and glorifying violence.
When Yung stood trial in August, evidence presented in court showed that he had made comments including: “Fucking stab his father and mother to death.” A separate comment read: “Next time, stab where the small intestines are, in the centre of the body.”
Following his arrest in March 2022, Yung told the police under caution that he had been influenced by anti-police sentiment at the time and did not stop to think of the consequences, adding that he chose to post on LIHKG under the guise of anonymity.
It was “despicable” that Yung had written the comments anonymously, the deputy district judge remarked when handing down her sentence. Even though he was not a public figure, his words could attract “ignorant followers,” Chan said.
Inciting others through online comments was “easy to copy,” and thus the court must impose a serious and deterrent penalty on Yung to prevent similar cases from happening, the judge added.
Yung was eventually jailed for two years.
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