A Hong Kong woman has been jailed for five and a half years over a “vigilante” incident during the 2019 protests and unrest.
Lee Yan-yan, 53, appeared at District Court on Wednesday. She earlier pleaded not guilty to rioting, two counts of wounding with intent, and perverting the course of justice, and was tried in July. The court delivered a guilty verdict in October.
The case revolves around an incident on September 21, 2019, two months after the Yuen Long mob attack, which saw men wearing white shirts indiscriminately assault commuters and protesters returning home from a demonstration.
Pro-democracy supporters gathered on the two-month anniversary to denounce what they saw as police inactivity, saying officers had not responded promptly or properly to the attack.
During Lee’s trial in July, the court heard that two men had got into a verbal argument with protesters opposite a Light Rail MTR station, according to The Witness. Around 20 to 30 protesters chanted protest slogans, and one of the men – surnamed Yiu – shouted “don’t stay in Hong Kong if you don’t like it here.”
Protesters then threw objects at the two men, who chased after them. Outside a Bank of China branch, Yiu waved a broken beer bottle as around 10 people surrounded the two men and hit them with umbrellas and metal rods. Lee was accused of using a roll-up banner to strike Yiu’s head.
Handing down the sentence, judge Anthony Kwok said that regardless of how outrageous the men’s words were, “vigilantism” was a threatening and lawless act, The Witness reported.
‘Ripple effect’
Large-scale protests and unrest erupted in Hong Kong in the summer of 2019, when pro-democracy supporters denounced a controversial extradition bill that would have allowed the transfer of fugitives to mainland China to stand trial. The demonstrations soon ballooned into widespread discontent with the Hong Kong and Beijing governments.
The July 21 attack in Yuen Long, which saw protesters accusing police of cooperating with triad members rumoured to be behind the assault, were one of the key episodes during the months-long demonstrations.
Judge Kwok said on Wednesday that even though the defence had argued that Lee had not planned to attack the men and that the incident did not involve any personal vendetta, this was not a reason for a lighter sentence.
Kwok added that the incident happened in a public place with demonstrators chanting protest slogans. The defendant’s act could have caused a “ripple effect” as emotions ran high, he said.
As for the perverting the course of justice offence, Kwok said Lee had at first refused to open the door for police when officers came to her apartment to buy time to throw a pair of shoes – which was key evidence – out the window. Her intentions were extremely clear, the judge said.
Over 10,250 protest-related arrests were made during the 2019 demonstrations, police said.
Of those arrested, police said in February that 2,899 people had been charged. Apart from around 800 whose cases were serious and were still being investigated, there were almost 6,500 who were yet to be charged.
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