Former University of Hong Kong student leader charged over siege of governing council meeting
Billy Fung, 22, faces one count of criminal intimidation or disorderly conduct in a public place alternately, one count of criminal damage, and one count of an attempted forcible entry
The former president of the University of Hong Kong’s student union has been charged over his role in the siege of a university governing council meeting in January.
Billy Fung Jing-en, 22, has been charged with one count of criminal intimidation or disorderly conduct in a public place alternately, one count of criminal damage and one count of attempted forcible entry.
Fung was arrested at his Tsuen Wan home on Wednesday night and later released on HK$10,000 bail. According to police, he is due to appear in Eastern Court on Friday.
On January 26, chaos erupted on the HKU campus as students angry about governance issues besieged the council meeting.
About 200 student protesters surrounded the venue at the Sassoon Road campus in Pok Fu Lam, refusing to let new council chairman Arthur Li Kwok-cheung and university vice-chancellor Peter Mathieson leave.
Police said a glass door, a smoke door, a guard booth and four lamp posts were damaged during the incident. Three women were taken to Queen Mary Hospital including council member Leonie Ki Man-fung.
Mathieson later condemned the siege as “mob rule”, saying the university offered to hand over footage of those involved to police.
Students said their actions had been “forced” on them by Li’s unwillingness to have a face-to-face discussion on their demand that the council review its structure, which they feared was susceptible to political interference.
Before the meeting, HKU students held a week-long class boycott, urging council members to set up a committee to review how the university was governed and to prevent political interference.
They also demanded the chief executive no longer be HKU’s chancellor by default and that he be stripped of the right to appoint council members.
Former student union external vice-president Colman Li Fung-kei said on Wednesday police had gone to his home to question him, but he was out of town.
Mathieson on Wednesday said the school would “always endeavour to provide assistance to any staff member or student in need”, when asked if the university planned to provide the former union leader with legal assistance.
Mathieson added: “We respect the judicial process and adhere to the principle of innocent until proven guilty.”
Additional reporting by Clifford Lo
