A kitchen worker who admitted taking part in an illegal protest in 2019 has been jailed for 43 months for rioting and breaching the Hong Kong government’s ban on wearing masks in public meetings.
The jail term handed to Derek Chan Chun-ling on Thursday marked the heaviest sentence to date slapped on a protester over the disturbance in Wan Chai on October 6, 2019, one day after the Prohibition on Face Covering Regulation took effect.
The 33-year-old defendant was among 26 people charged in relation to the illegal gathering, where thousands of protesters confronted police to express their anger at the invocation of the Emergency Regulations Ordinance to ban mask-wearing at demonstrations.
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The case concerned a stand-off that started at 5.12pm on a section of Hennessy Road between Stewart Road and Tonnochy Road, where protesters set up barricades, burned rubbish on the streets and shone laser lights at officers.
A total of 14 petrol bombs were launched at police during the conflict, with two of the projectiles hitting two reporters by mistake.
Wearing a black outfit, gas mask and goggles, Chan was first seen in security camera footage at around 5.27pm, when he carried a brick towards the centre of the road.
Police and press cameras later captured the defendant at the front line while protesters hurled bricks and petrol bombs at officers. He was arrested outside a bank at 5.55pm.
Chan pleaded guilty before the District Court last week to a count of rioting and another of using a facial covering at an unlawful assembly.
Defence counsel Thomas Iu Poon-shing said in mitigation last week his client had hoped to visit Ocean Park on the day concerned, but committed the offences instead because he was “influenced by the surroundings”.
Iu said Chan was only one of more than 500 participants in the protest, adding he had picked up the brick with a view to paralyse traffic instead of attacking police. The lawyer’s written mitigation also revealed Chan had lost his job and separated with his wife.
On Thursday, Judge Lily Wong Sze-lai noted the defendant had played an active role in the riot following a conscious decision to remain at the scene.
3 in Hong Kong jailed for up to 44 months over rioting during 2019 unrest
She sentenced Chan to 42½ months’ imprisonment for rioting and nine weeks for violating the mask ban, for a total term of 43 months. She also ordered the confiscation of his HK$5,000 (US$640) bail money as punishment for breaching a curfew order three times.
Another judge earlier sentenced eight other defendants to between 33 and 37 months’ imprisonment and three to correctional training for rioting in the same protest, whereas a deputy judge acquitted five of rioting but sentenced them to jail or correctional training for breaking the mask ban. The remaining nine defendants will stand a 30-day trial before a fourth judge from December 1.
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