Hong Kong court convicts nine more over 2016 Mong Kok riot
The guilty verdicts increase the number of convictions to 18 and include teenagers who threw bricks at police and a 70-year-old who took too long to flee the scene
Nine more men were on Wednesday found guilty of rioting in Hong Kong’s popular shopping district of Mong Kok during Lunar New Year two years ago, taking the number of such convictions to 18.
Among them were teenagers who hurled more than a dozen bricks at police officers, “casual participants” who joined in the mayhem “out of fun”, and a 70-year-old retiree who moved at “turtle speed” while trying to flee the scene.
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The West Kowloon Court heard each of them, hailing from diverse backgrounds, participated in varying degrees “in furtherance of the riot”, during which flying bricks and bamboo sticks were used across four major roads and 47 officers injured after a hawker control operation turned ugly on February 8, 2016.
Prosecutors enlisted more than 200 witnesses, including officers who recalled fearing and fleeing for their lives as masked “thugs” charged at outnumbered colleagues and a stranded police car.
The long-awaited verdict on Wednesday concluded a marathon trial that began last June and completed submissions in October, with district judge Kwok Wai-kin handing down a 382-page ruling after four adjournments.