Hong Kong protests: teacher convicted of assaulting police officer jailed for 9 weeks after losing appeal
- The teacher’s appeal revolved around accusations that the magistrate in his original trial was biased
- But the appellate judge found that comments made by the magistrate at sentencing did ‘not mean she was certainly prejudiced’
Defendant Yeung Pok-man was sentenced to nine weeks in prison last year after being found guilty of kicking Sergeant Chung Wan-yip in the abdomen after the officer pulled him over on So Kwun Po Road in Sheung Shui while he was on his way to work during a citywide strike on November 11, 2019.
The 29-year-old was the first schoolteacher to be convicted in relation to the months of anti-government demonstrations that year, which were sparked by a now-withdrawn extradition bill.
He was dismissed by his primary school following the conviction and sent to a psychiatric facility for pre-sentencing assessment after Magistrate Debbie Ng Chung-yee questioned whether “his mental state was good enough for him to continue teaching”.
Ng’s decision and comments sparked an outcry, and she subsequently became one of three magistrates to receive thousands of complaints alleging bias, subjectivity and prejudice, prompting the judiciary to set up a new online channel for public feedback.