Hong Kong protests: district councillor who doxxed police officer ‘thankful’ after getting suspended sentence
- Cheng Lai-king, of the Central and Western District Council, had posted the name and details of officer accused of shooting Indonesian reporter in the eye
- Judge agreed with prosecutors that her position as a public office holder made her more culpable, saying ‘greater care’ should have been expected of her
Mr Justice Russell Coleman on Monday sentenced Cheng Lai-king, who chairs the Central and Western District Council, to 28 days in prison – suspended for 12 months – for civil contempt of court after finding her violation of the injunction had been aggravated by the fact she was in a position of influence, which “comes with its own inherent dangers”.
“The greater a person’s following,” Russell said, “the greater the degree of care that might be expected of that person in recognition of the potentially greater consequences.”
The judge also reiterated that it was fundamental to the rule of law that court orders be obeyed, while adding that doxxing itself was a criminal activity with consequences that should have been considered whether there was an injunction or not.
The post contained the officer’s personal data, including his full name and identification number, which was extracted from a doxxing group on Telegram known as “Dadfindboy”.