Supporters turn out for Hong Kong pro-independence figure Edward Leung’s appeal against Mong Kok riot jail sentence
- He was joined by co-defendants Lo Kin-man and Wong Ka-kui, who were also jailed for their involvement in the 2016 riot
- Leung’s lawyers argued that his six-year jail sentence was excessive, compared to other cases from the same night
Supporters of the defendants, many wearing face masks, arrived at Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal as early as sunrise to get a seat in the public gallery. They packed the entrance and the area outside the courtroom as they waited for the court’s decision. The court, however, decided to reserve its judgment, with a date yet to be set.
Leung and Lo were both found guilty of one count of rioting on the night of February 8, 2016, while Leung also pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting a police officer. Wong pleaded guilty to one count of rioting.
During Wednesday’s trial, prosecutors argued that what started out as a scuffle between hawker control officers and street vendors quickly escalated into mass unrest in Mong Kok.
Director of public prosecutions David Leung Cheuk-yin said the Mong Kok riot was well organised and escalated because people at the scene that night were armed with shields, and some were wearing the same blue T-shirt.
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Edward Leung and his lawyers, however, argued the sentence imposed on him last year for his role in the unrest was excessive.
Defence barrister Lawrence Lok Ying-kam SC cited the case of computer technician Yeung Ka-lun, who was separately sentenced to four years and nine months in jail for setting fire to a taxi during the Mong Kok riot.
Lok reasoned that the actions of Leung, who kicked and hit a police sergeant with a wooden board that night, were less serious than Yeung’s.
Barrister Chan Siu-ming, for Wong, said his client had been misled by the press to think there was social injustice and problems with police, causing him to commit his crime. He urged the court to show leniency.
Lo’s defence counsel Lawrence Law, meanwhile, argued that his client’s conviction should have been quashed because the trial judge had failed to give proper direction to the jury.
Leung’s lawyers said he could hear the crowd cheering from inside his vehicle as he arrived at the court on Wednesday morning. Once in the dock, he was seen waving at his supporters in the public gallery. Lo, through his lawyer, passed a memo to his supporters, saying: “Resist. Resist.”
Following the appeals hearing, Leung’s supporters chanted “Liberate Hong Kong; revolution of our time” – a slogan coined by the activist when he ran for the Legislative Council in 2016 for independence group Hong Kong Indigenous. He relinquished his post with the political group before being jailed on June 11, 2018.
Following Wednesday’s hearing, Leung’s supporters called for Hong Kong independence and the release of what they called “innocent fighters”. The group blocked two lanes of the westbound Queensway and marched behind Leung’s van briefly.
