'Responsible' activists fined over protest

Two members of the League of Social Democrats were let off with fines in a court ruling yesterday that described them as acting responsibly during an anti-budget protest that blocked major roads in Central last year.

In addition to the fines, the magistrate gave the activists some advice: find their own way to express their beliefs, rather than simply borrowing the words of historical heroes such as Mohandas Gandhi.

Andrew To Kwan-hang, 46, an accountant and former league chairman, was fined HK$2,000 in Eastern Court after he pleaded guilty to one count each of helping to organise an unauthorised assembly and taking part in it.

Fellow member Raphael Wong Ho-ming, a 24-year-old clerk, was fined half that amount on the same charges.

In imposing the lenient sentences, Deputy Magistrate Winston Leung Wing-chung said he appreciated Wong and To's willingness to plead guilty right away, instead of 'making use of the order of the court as a political stage to launch attacks against others'.

Leung also acknowledged that the defendants were non-violent in their protest.

To and Wong took part in an afternoon rally on March 6 last year that saw thousands demonstrate against the government's approach to distributing HK$6,000 handouts to permanent residents over 18 years old, and its lack of specific help for needy groups in the community.