Two Hong Kong activists admit roles in anti-Beijing protest, where crowds thronged liaison office and charged at officers
Ivan Lam and Derek Lam were involved in a November 6, 2016 demonstration motivated by rumours that Beijing would interpret Hong Kong’s mini-constitution
Two Hong Kong pro-democracy activists on Monday admitted urging demonstrators to deviate from a police-approved marching route in November 2016, with the crowd continuing to Beijing’s liaison office in the city where they charged at officers behind barricades.
Demosisto member Ivan Lam Long-yin, 23, and his former party colleague Derek Lam Shun-hin, 24, pleaded guilty before magistrate Peony Wong Nga-yan to charges of unlawful assembly and incitement to behave in a disorderly manner in a public place respectively.
They will be sentenced at a later date.
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The West Kowloon Court heard the two men were part of a rally organised by the Civil Human Rights Front on November 6, as rumours swirled that the central government would issue an interpretation of Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law.
The police had issued a notice allowing protesters to gather in Wan Chai at 3pm on the day of the rally and march to Central, where they could stay until 11.59pm.
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There were about 8,000 participants at the height of the rally but some did not follow the protest route and instead went to the central government’s liaison office in Sai Wan.