Hong Kong secondary student convicted of carrying air pistol near Legco protest
Court finds 16-year-old pro-independence activist guilty of possessing an imitation firearm, an offence punishable by two years’ imprisonment
A pro-independence secondary school student was on Wednesday found guilty of carrying an air pistol metres away from a protest against changing the Legislative Council’s rule book last December, after a court rejected his self defence claims.
Eastern Court found Lau Hong, 16, guilty of possessing an imitation firearm, an offence punishable by two years’ imprisonment, as a magistrate concluded that he had carried an offensive weapon for the purpose of committing a crime.
But the student maintained in mitigation that he had no intention to harm anyone or cause any trouble. Lau said earlier that he had only taken part in the protest so he could take pictures, and he had a habit of carrying the air pistol all the time out of worry that he might be attacked for supporting Hong Kong independence.
A month later, on December 12, he was intercepted by police in Admiralty while wearing a hood and a face mask, and carrying a crossbody bag containing an eight-inch air pistol with a loaded magazine, a bottle of 1,000 yellow plastic pellets and five “Hong Kong is not China” stickers.