A Hong Kong hospitality student has been handed a 21-day jail term with the sentenced suspended for 12 months after she admitted to contempt of court.
Yip Sin-man, a student of hotel and catering management, appeared at the High Court in front of Judge Russell Coleman on Wednesday. She admitted to violating a court injunction which barred the release of police officers’ personal information, also known as doxxing.
The High Court issued an interim injunction order in 2019 barring the disclosed of personal data belonging to police officers and their extended family amid the 2019 extradition bill protests and unrests.
Yip published the personal details of a police officer online in September 2020, accompanied by a line that read, “remember not to share this with others,” and an “innocent face” emoticon, the representative for the secretary for justice said on Wednesday.
The inclusion of the emoticon was said to have been an “aggravating factor,” as it conveyed the message that Yip was actually asking readers to share her message.
The police officer whose personal information was leaked was subjected to “nuisance and harassment,” the secretary for justice’s representative said, adding that he had to change his Instagram user name as a result.
The court should send a clear message that such acts would not be tolerated, the representative said.
In her mitigating submission, Yip, who represented herself in court on Wednesday, said that she committed the act “out of her own impulsiveness” and ignorance.
The defendant also said that she hoped to join the city’s hotel industry after graduating in July.
The Department of Justice also applied for the court to order Yip to pay legal costs totalling to over HK$166,000.
Yip said that as a part-time student she earned a monthly income of around HK$5,000, and that she had to support her mother and younger brother.
The defendant added that her parents were divorced, and that her family received Comprehensive Social Security Assistance.
Yip said she was “very sorry” for committing the act and that she regretted her actions.
The defendant’s clear record, and the fact that she removed the post the day after it was posted were among the mitigating factors, the judge said.
Coleman sentenced Yip to 21 days in prison, suspended for 12 months and ordered Yip to pay the secretary for justice HK$30,000 for legal costs.
The judge also lifted an automatic postponement of proceedings at the beginning of the hearing at the request of the secretary for justice’s representative.
The request was made after Yip applied for legal aid for a second time on Tuesday, which would have triggered an automatic suspension of proceedings for 42 days unless the court ruled otherwise.
Yip said her first application was rejected last year. The defendant said she could not file supporting evidence for her application at the time after contracting Covid-19
The judge said that a written judgement would soon be handed down for Yip’s sentencing, as well as his decision to lift the automatic stay of proceedings.
In 2021, Hong Kong passed an anti-doxxing law, under which offenders risk a HK$1 million fine and five years imprisonment.
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