A 22-year-old man has been found guilty of carrying an unlicensed walkie-talkie while on the way to report an event linked to Hong Kong’s National Security Education Day as a part-time reporter for RTHK in 2021.
Hung Ka-wing was fined HK$1,000 after prosecutors asked Deputy Judge Leung Ka-kie to review her original decision in 2022 to find him not guilty.
The same judge said at West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on Wednesday that the defendant was responsible for understanding the rules on licensing and control of telecommunications in Hong Kong, The Witness reported.
Hung was arrested on April 15, 2021, at Ocean Park MTR station. According to local media reports, he was about to visit the Police Academy in Wong Chuk Hang. Police stopped him and found he was carrying two replica pistols and a walkie-talkie.
Hung, then a film studies student at the Hong Kong Design Institute, was charged with possession of imitation firearms and possession of unlicensed wireless communication equipment.
He was acquitted on both charges in September 2022 following trial at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts. The defence told the court that as a student majoring in film studies, Hung had purchased the pistols and walkie-talkie as props for a movie production.
Judge Leung said in September 2022 that the prosecution had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant possessed the replica guns with the intention of endangering public safety, local media outlet Oriental Daily reported.
Leung added that she accepted the defendant’s sincere belief that he did not need a licence to possess the radio transceiver.
The Department of Justice filed an application for a review on the charge of possession of the radio transceiver, seeking to overturn the acquittal.
On Wednesday, Leung said that after reviewing the case she rejected the defence’s argument that Hung believed he did not require a licence for the wireless radio transceiver.
According to the Telecommunications Ordinance, except for individuals who have obtained the relevant licences, no person shall possess or use any equipment for wireless communication purposes in Hong Kong.
The maximum penalty is a fine of HK$50,000 and imprisonment for up to two years.
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