Hong Kong protests: 7 activists jailed for up to 16 months over illegal rally, with court finding they turned blind eye to violence

Civil Human Rights Front’s Figo Chan and ex-lawmakers Leung Kwok-hung and Albert Ho get harshest sentences for march that devolved into vandalism

Judge Amanda Woodcock says rally leaders were aware that hardcore protesters were in their midst and planned violent acts

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An aerial view of buses trapped among protesters during an October 2019 Civil Human Rights Front rally banned by police. Photo: May Tse

Published: 2:19pm, 1 Sep 2021Updated: 11:29am, 2 Sep 2021

A Hong Kong court has jailed seven opposition activists and former lawmakers for up to 16 months over their roles in a banned anti-government protest in 2019, ruling that they had turned a blind eye to the criminal violence and vandalism that the supposedly peaceful rally descended into.

The District Court’s ruling on Wednesday is the fourth sentence imposed on organisers and participants of mass rallies organised two years ago by the Civil Human Rights Front, which was disbanded last month under mounting pressure from a police investigation into alleged unlawful activities.

Front convenor Figo Chan Ho-wun, as well as ex-lawmakers “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung and Albert Ho Chun-yan, were each handed jail terms of 16 months for their roles in the illegal procession in Tsim Sha Tsui on October 20.

Former lawmaker Cyd Ho Sau-lan and activist Raphael Wong Ho-ming were jailed for 14 months, while ex-lawmaker Yeung Sum and activist Avery Ng Man-yuen were ordered to serve 11 months and one year behind bars, respectively.

All except Wong were already serving jail sentences tied to previous unauthorised rallies organised by the front.

(From left) Yeung Sum, Figo Chan and Avery Ng Man-yuen leave Hong Kong’s District Court prior to their sentencing hearing in May. Photo: Nora Tam

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