Hong Kong protests: Jimmy Lai, Martin Lee, five former lawmakers convicted over unauthorised 2019 march from Victoria Park
- Judge rules nothing unconstitutional about the offence of unlawful assembly, dismisses defence argument that organisers had urged people to march from the park for safety reasons
- ‘Shame on political prosecution! Peaceful demonstration is not a crime,’ former lawmaker ‘Long Hair’ Leung Kwok-hung shouts from dock after conviction
Lawyers for the seven, as well as two other ex-legislators who pleaded guilty before the trial, will submit mitigations on April 16.
Following his conviction, Leung remained defiant in the dock, shouting: “Shame on political prosecution! Peaceful demonstration is not a crime!”
The District Court trial – held at West Kowloon Court to accommodate the large amount of interest in the case – centred on an unauthorised procession on August 18, 2019, which came amid the social unrest sparked by the since-withdrawn extradition bill.
Prosecutors accused the seven of turning an approved assembly in Victoria Park into an illegal march to Central under the pretext of crowd control. Defence lawyers argued the accused were merely leading rally participants out of the park to alleviate overcrowding.