Hong Kong man who urged protesters to attack police with coconuts jailed for 3 years for rioting, unlawful assembly
- The riot took place in January of 2020, and marked the anniversary of a chaotic Mong Kok protest five years ago
- The man was accused of instructing protesters to hurl coconuts at police, but was arrested before the attack took place
Lai Ka-ho initially faced five charges – which also included two counts of assaulting a police officer, one of resisting an officer and two of fare evasion – in connection with his involvement in the disturbance at the junction of Portland and Argyle streets on January 26, 2020.
However, prosecutors agreed to drop those charges if the 22-year-old pleaded guilty to rioting and taking part in an unlawful assembly, which he did at District Court on Thursday.
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The court heard Lai had assumed a leading role in last year’s demonstration, which took place on the second day of the Lunar New Year.
On the same day of the lunar calendar in 2016, the bustling shopping district was plunged into mayhem after localist protesters seized upon the grass-roots issue of hawkers’ livelihoods and clashed with police in an overnight confrontation that lasted more than 10 hours, and saw over 100 people injured.
At last year’s protest, hundreds defied a police ban and gathered on Portland Street, blocking traffic and shouting anti-government slogans popularised during the social unrest of the previous year.
Lai was first spotted wearing a Guy Fawkes mask behind a makeshift barricade made of umbrellas at the junction of Portland and Argyle at around 11pm, where he shone bright lights at police while leading a vociferous crowd in shouting insults.
According to the prosecution, the unlawful assembly descended into a riot when the defendant and more than a dozen other protesters formed a human chain and brought Portland Street to a standstill moments later.
Riding on the momentum, the salesman then instructed his comrades to hurl coconuts from a cardboard box on the side of the road at police. He was arrested after a violent struggle with four policemen, and the coconut attack never took place.
Under caution, Lai admitted jumping turnstiles at MTR stations twice that day on his way from his residence in Fanling to Mong Kok to join the protest.
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In a letter to the court, Lai said he had been wrong to believe he could achieve justice by breaking the law, and he was sorry for what he had done.
But Judge Frankie Yiu Fun-che said a deterrent sentence was necessary to reflect Lai’s level of involvement in the illegal demonstration.
“The defendant took a leading role in the unlawful assembly. The situation could have taken a turn for the worse at any moment,” Yiu said.
The judge set a starting point for sentencing at 4½ years in jail for rioting and 2½ for taking part in an unlawful assembly. He then knocked off one-third of each jail term to reflect Lai’s guilty plea, and ordered both to be served concurrently, for a total of three years.
