Hong Kong actor Gregory Wong has been among four found guilty of rioting inside the city’s legislature on the anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover to China during the 2019 protests.
Thursday’s verdict came after a 34-day trial that began last May in which six defendants, including Wong, pleaded not guilty to rioting. Three others – Ho Chun-yin, Ng Chi-yung and Lam Kan-kwan – were also found guilty of rioting.
Journalists Wong Ka-ho and Ma Kai-chung were found not guilty. Wong was a reporter with a student publication at the City University of Hong Kong at the time, while Ma was a reporter with Passion Times.
However, both were found guilty of entering – or remaining in – the LegCo chamber as judge Li Chi-ho handed down the verdicts.
Regarding Wong, Li said he did not accept the actor’s evidence that he had entered the LegCo to hand a portable charger to a reporter. Wong would have known that protesters had occupied the building and that police were planning to take clearance action, the judge wrote in his reasons for verdict.
“It doesn’t mean that [Wong] had to personally go into the [LegCo]… why didn’t he find [the reporters’] friends or get the reporter’s contact, and meet outside LegCo to pass the charger?”
Li added that while inside the LegCo chamber, Wong had talked to a man as seen in a video evidence. He also patted the shoulder of a protester while on the way out of the chamber, the judge said.
“Why did [Wong] have to interact with the protester, and even show friendly and encouraging gestures… what was his intention?” Li wrote.
Describing why the two journalists were acquitted of rioting, Li said that they had testified thoroughly about their reporting that day, and were capturing the scene outside and inside the LegCo. There was nothing to suggest they had assisted or supported the riot, Li added.
In all, the case involved 13 defendants. The seven others – including activists Ventus Lau and Althea Suen – pleaded guilty last May. Aside for the two defendants found not guilty of rioting, the defendants were remanded in custody.
Storming of the legislature
Protests and unrest broke out in the summer of 2019 over a controversial extradition bill that would have allowed the transfer of fugitives to mainland China. The demonstrations ballooned into a wider opposition against the Hong Kong and Beijing authorities, as well as alleged police brutality in dispersing protesters.
The storming of the Legislative Council (LegCo) on July 1, 2019, marked one of the major incidents in the months-long unrest. That night, protesters occupied the government building, smashing windows and spray-painting protest slogans on the walls. Some left by around 11 pm, according to the case details.
Police officers did not stop the storming. By the time officers entered the building, all protesters had left, according to a police watchdog report. Nobody was arrested in relation to the incident that night, with police only making arrests in the months after the incident.
Riot trial
The riot trial began last May with Suen – the former head of the University of Hong Kong’s student union – entering a guilty plea, alongside Lau, a protest organiser. Five others – Lo Lok-sang, Amy Pat, Pun Ho-chiu, Shum Keng-lok and Fan Chun-man also pleaded guilty.
All defendants were charged with rioting and breaching an administrative instruction by entering or remaining in the legislative chamber. However, prosecutor William Tam said the administrative instruction charge would not proceed against those who pleaded guilty to rioting.
The court will hear the defendants’ mitigation statements on February 6 and 21. They will be sentenced on March 16.
According to the case summary read out in court, a group of demonstrators had rammed glass doors and windows at the legislature on July 1, 2019, despite warnings from the LegCo secretariat and the police. The police retreated at 8:51 p.m. as corrosive powders and liquid were thrown at them by the protesters.
Among the items damaged by protesters were 132 CCTV cameras, 73 door card readers, seven computers, 10 gates, six CCTV monitors, 40 lamps, 10 escalators, 11 lifts, 748 door locks, 45 window walls and 13 glass doors, the prosecutor said.
Repairs cost HK$36,284,116, the court heard.
Owen Chow, who was also charged and had pleaded guilty, had his case handled separately from the group as he was standing trial in the 47 democrats case, which spanned from last February to December. Chow pleaded not guilty in the national security case, in which he stands accused of conspiring to to commit subversion in relation to a democratic primary.
Corrections:
6/2/2024 at 08.30 pm: An earlier version of this article stated that Owen Chow pleaded guilty in the 47 democrats' case. He pleaded not guilty. We regret the error.
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