A Hong Kong construction worker was sentenced to four years in prison for participating in the siege of police headquarters and beating up an undercover police officer during last year’s anti-delivery protests. It was the first case since the anti-delivery campaign in which a court found him guilty of rioting, and the first case involving the siege of police headquarters to be found guilty.
The verdict was handed down Friday (Sept. 25) by the First District Court of Hong Kong against 26-year-old Shum Hiu-lin, a renovation worker who was sentenced to four years in prison. Shum, a renovation worker, participated with other demonstrators in the siege of the Wanchai police headquarters and the beating of a plainclothes officer during an anti-drop-off protest march on June 26 last year.
Last week, the court found Shum guilty of rioting and assaulting a police officer.
Judge Kai-An Kuo expressed frustration with the verdict Friday, calling it a tragedy. He said the siege of the police headquarters was a serious assault on the rule of law and an aggravating factor in the sentence.
Previously, the District Court had convicted three young people on similar charges, with a 17-year-old student serving three years and four months and two others serving four years in prison.
Guo Qian said anyone who resorts to violence must pay a price. “Violence is violence. This fact will not be changed by any noble, personal ideals.”
The anti-sentinel movement was a massive public protest that erupted in June 2019 over the Hong Kong government’s proposed “extradition regulation. This extradition ordinance advocates legislation to establish extradition mechanisms with China, Macau, and Taiwan to address the difficulties faced in handling cross-border criminal cases.
The Hong Kong public, deeply concerned about Beijing’s infiltration and erosion of Hong Kong’s liberties, resisted the proposed amendment and spontaneously took to the streets to protest the government’s move, sparking an unprecedented public protest that lasted for months. According to Hong Kong media, more than 2 million of Hong Kong’s more than 7 million residents participated in the movement.
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