On September 29, 2019, protesters illegally assembled outside the Mong Kok Police Station, and the police arrested many people. Four men and two women were later charged with illegal assembly, possession of an offensive weapon in a public place and assaulting a police officer. Three male defendants have pleaded guilty one after another. Two were sentenced to 4 to 5 months in prison earlier. Today (18th), another juvenile was sentenced to a re-education through labour centre at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court. Magistrate Heung Shuk-han criticized the defendant for putting the cardboard into the fire and attacking the police officer, causing her fingers to be broken.
The defendant sentenced today is 20-year-old construction worker Chen Huiyan, who was only 17 at the time of the crime. He was charged with 1 count of unlawful assembly and 2 counts of assaulting a police officer, alleging that on September 29, 2019, he participated in an unlawful assembly with other unknown persons in the vicinity of Mong Kok Police Station, Prince Edward Road West, Mong Kok; Police officers 7608 and 15120 were attacked on Sai Yeung Choi South Street in Mong Kok near the junction of Bute Street. According to the case, at about 10 o’clock that night, some protesters threw petrol bombs near the Mong Kok Police Station, and then some people set fire on Sai Yeung Choi Street. The police arrested the defendant at about 11:30. During the period, the defendant beat the police officer 7608 on the head several times, and then pulled his fingers and tried to push him away. As a result, the ring finger of 7608’s left hand was fractured and slightly swollen. The doctor granted him a one-month sick leave. Police officer 15120 who joined to help subdue the defendant was hit by the defendant’s fingers, causing pain in his right ring finger. Police and the media photographed the defendant wearing a full set of black gear that night and putting the cardboard into the roadside fire.
The defense pleaded that the defendant did not know that the person who subdued him from behind was a police officer because the police officer did not reveal his identity at the time. The magistrate stated that he did not accept this statement, believing that the police had given many warnings at that time, and also pointed out that if the defendant believed that the person holding him was a fellow man, the defendant would not twist his finger. The defense further explained that the defendant was beaten on the head with a baton by a police officer that day. Although he was not in a coma, he needed stitches. The injured police officer apologized. Sentencing by the magistrate, the case was at the peak of the anti-amendment demonstrations, and the defendant was obviously well-prepared. In order to escape the uniform of the police officers, the defendant attacked the officers and caused one of them to fracture his fingers. His behavior was so bad that a prison sentence was unavoidable. However, considering the defendant’s youth and balancing the elements of deterrence, punishment and rehabilitation, it was decided to sentence the defendant to a labor camp.
Case number: WKCC 1825/2022
