Media proprietor Lai Chi-ying and Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China (HKASPDMC) Chairman Lee Cheuk-yan, who were sentenced to one year in prison for organizing and participating in the August 18 “assembly” in Victoria Park, were today sentenced to eight months and six months respectively for participating in another peaceful demonstration on August 31 of the same year, but the judge said that the two demonstrations were held not far apart and therefore ruled that Most of these sentences were served concurrently with the other case, and only two months of the sentence had to be served in installments, i.e., two people had to serve a total of 14 months in prison for the two marches. As for the other defendant in the same case, the former chairman of the Democratic Party, Yeung Sum, was also sentenced to 8 months, but was given a suspended sentence of one year, which means that he does not need to go to jail for the time being.
The three defendants were charged with participating in the “8.31” march in 2019, which was initiated by netizens to protest against the 2014 resolution passed by the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People’s Congress that set limits on universal suffrage for Hong Kong’s Chief Executive and Legislative Council. The three earlier admitted to the charge, but indicated that they were not at fault, it was civil disobedience, and said history will judge them not guilty.
Judge Hu Ya Wen this (16) afternoon sentencing, sentencing will not consider the defendants’ political beliefs, do not agree that they claim to be “general participants”, because they are well-known people, in the crowd is very prominent, so that other participants to follow.
The number of participants was not available because there was no organizer for the march, but according to visual estimates, the number of participants was in the tens of thousands, and the three were the only participants charged in the march.
The defendants knowingly participated in the unauthorized rally, ignoring police warnings and encouraging others to break the law. Yang Sen, who was given a suspended sentence, said outside the court that he was surprised by the ruling, saying that participation in peaceful assemblies in Hong Kong is protected by the Basic Law and is a basic human right, but the judge only blamed the 2019 social unrest on the rally, but did not care that the government’s administration was the source of public anger, and the court sentenced him to replace the previous non-custodial sentences, raising questions about whether the court was cooperating with the police National Security Division to suppress peaceful demonstrations.
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