Hong Kong man sentenced to 2-month detention in psychiatric hospital over inciting random killings online
Hong Kong Free Press
A man who praised the suspect of a double murder in a Hong Kong shopping mall has been sentenced to two months of detention in a psychiatric hospital, after he pleaded guilty to inciting others to wound.
Magistrate Jeffrey Sze on Wednesday ordered defendant Lee Chi-wai to be detained in a hospital with police security for two months after taking into account his mental health history, local media reported.
The 34-year-old was arrested in early June after making social media posts thanking a man who allegedly stabbed and killed two female shoppers at Plaza Hollywood in Diamond Hill, local media reports read citing the prosecution’s case. Police said at the time that there was no evidence to show the suspect knew the victims, while the public was urged not to share videos of the attack.
According to the prosecution, Lee had made three posts on Facebook to encourage random killings, including sharing a photo of Cheng Chieh, a man who murdered four people in a stabbing spree on a subway train in Taipei in 2014.
Police later found that the defendant had also posted on Twitter and claimed that “violence was the only way to resolve problems.” He said it was it was his “dream” to put pressure on society using “random bloody violence,” local media reported.
Under police caution, the defendant explained he made such statements because of his “poor emotions.” He also told the police during a video interview that he suffered from delusional disorder and believed that he could seek protection by sharing his thoughts online.
The magistrate said the offences in the current case were serious and there was quite a number of inciteful posts made by Lee. A psychiatric report showed that Lee was diagnosed with mental health disorders in 2016 and his mental state was unstable over the past few years after he stopped taking medication.
The court eventually imposed a hospital detention order on Lee as recommended in the report, saying it was the best option for both the defendant and society.
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