Hong Kong protests: student faces up to 7 years in jail after pleading guilty to rioting over role in PolyU siege
- Chia Kwan-sin was arrested some 1,500 metres away from protest site in Hung Hom; police agree to drop three other charges given guilty plea
- Teenager could lose education opportunities following conviction, defence counsel says
Chia Kwan-sin, who graduated from secondary school this summer, pleaded guilty at the District Court on Monday over his role in actions aimed at lifting a police siege on anti-government protesters occupying Polytechnic University two years ago.
Prosecutors agreed to drop three other weapons charges given his guilty plea.
The teenager was arrested in the early hours of November 19, 2019 at the junction of Nathan Road and Hamilton Street, some 1,500 metres away from the site of one of the most violent confrontations during the social unrest that year.
On the previous day, protesters trapped inside the campus in Hung Hom battled police with petrol bombs and bows and arrows. Their comrades attempted to give them a window to escape by staging various protests in the university’s vicinity.
“There were online calls to scatter police officers, apparently offering support to those inside PolyU,” prosecutor Wong Yan-ning said on Monday.