Hong Kong protests: construction worker acquitted of rioting charge as black attire ‘not enough to prove involvement’ in violence
- District Court also clears Ip Ka-ming, 25, of breaking government ban on wearing masks in unlawful assemblies
- Deputy Judge Li Chi-ho says prosecution failed to exclude possibility Ip had just walked past the conflict zone and could be ‘unrelated’ to riot
A construction worker accused of rioting at the height of the 2019 Hong Kong protests has been acquitted after a judge found the defendant’s black attire alone was not enough to prove his involvement.
The prosecution failed to exclude the possibility that defendant Ip Ka-ming had just walked past the conflict zone, the District Court ruled on Wednesday. The 25-year-old was further cleared of breaching a government ban on wearing masks in unlawful assemblies.
Police arrested Ip in Mong Kok in the early hours of November 16, 2019, after Hong Kong witnessed five straight days of violence, chaos and traffic disruption in the aftermath of a citywide strike on November 11.
Protesters had turned Polytechnic University into their stronghold, taking on riot police outside the Hung Hom campus while reinforcing their defences.
Their comrades also staged various protests in the university’s vicinity.