Hong Kong protests: activist facing charges flees to Netherlands and another also goes missing, prompting police to add them to wanted list
- Wayne Chan is believed to have flown to Amsterdam last week on same day he was expected to report to police
- Man Ka-kin skipped a court appearance hours after discovering he was facing a more serious charge of rioting
Wayne Chan Ka-kui, 29, is believed to have flown to Amsterdam last week, breaching his bail conditions.
Police said the convenor of the Students Independence Union had left the city “on the same day he was required to report to police”.
An active Facebook user, on May 23 he expressed concern for the fate of local activists when the national security law comes into force. But there was no mention of a move abroad, and he could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
But one of Man’s co-defendants, Chow Lok-him, 30, had charges against him withdrawn after prosecutors revealed their case relied solely on the defendant’s fingerprint being found on a piece of paper lying at the scene of the Legco protest.
The development came a day after the first anniversary of the million-strong march against the extradition bill, which morphed into an anti-government movement extending to other issues that included police use of force and universal suffrage.
Latest figures showed that police have arrested close to 9,000 people and charged 1,749.
Man was one of 12 protesters, including actor Gregory Wong Chung-yiu, 41, and activist Ventus Lau Wing-hong, 26, who learned they would be facing new riot charges that could land them up to seven years in prison.
Another two of their co-defendants, Fan Chun-man, 27, and Brian Leung Kai-ping, 25, were also absent from court on Wednesday. Leung fled to the United States after he became the only person to deliberately reveal his face during the protest on July 1.
The pair have been accused of entering or remaining in the precincts of the Legco chamber, but have yet to acknowledge the summonses compelling their court attendance, so their cases were adjourned to await for personal – instead of postal – service of the order.
But the Post has been told personal delivery is limited to Hong Kong only.
Prosecution of journalist for entering Hong Kong Legco amid July 1 protest
Chow, a garage worker, was cleared of the same charge with costs against the prosecution, after senior assistant director public prosecutors Anthony Chau Tin-hang withdrew prosecution, and failed to convince the court Chow had drawn suspicion upon himself as that paper, which called for the city’s leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to resign, should not have been there.
“No one should be in that building except protesters,” the prosecutor said. “It’s not a coincidence.”
But the magistrate questioned how that fingerprint was made, or how the paper ended up in the building, as Chow was not arrested at the scene.
“We don’t have any evidence,” Chau said.
Chow’s co-defendants are scheduled to return to court on August 3, when their cases are expected to be transferred to the District Court, which can impose stiffer penalties at sentencing.
