Small fraction of Occupy protesters were there because of calls from movement’s founding trio, trial hears
- Prosecutors say Benny Tai, Dr Chan Kin-man and Reverend Chu Yiu-ming instrumental in bringing tens of thousands onto the streets of Admiralty
- But defence cites study suggesting people were there for other reasons
That came as the three instigators attempted to counter allegations that they were instrumental in bringing tens of thousands out onto the streets of Admiralty for the pro-democracy sit-ins which brought parts of the city to a standstill for up to 79 days.
They were Benny Tai Yiu-ting, 54, and Dr Chan Kin-man, 59 – both academics – and Reverend Chu Yiu-ming, 74, who all denied three joint counts: one of conspiracy to cause public nuisance; one of inciting others to cause public nuisance; and one of inciting people to incite others to cause public nuisance.
Their defence cited at West Kowloon Court a Chinese University survey which said that of more than 1,200 people polled at the Admiralty protest site four years ago, only 6.5 per cent rated the trio’s call-out among their key motivations for being there.
A lot more found things like a desire for electoral reform and fears for the city’s liberties to be more compelling, Francis Lee Lap-fung, the journalism scholar who conducted survey, said.
The poll, which interviewed 1,242 protesters on the site at the time, offered a different picture to the one painted by prosecutors, who said the three founders – along with six others in the dock – were the key players in inciting the public to cause public nuisance.