Hong Kong protests: former activist found guilty of rioting at PolyU, judge points to his emergence from manhole as proof of involvement
- Judge rules ‘only irresistible inference’ from Alvin Cheng coming out of sewerage is that he was fleeing police in university violence
- Court also convicts four co-defendants of perverting course of justice by attempting to help cornered protesters break away
A former Hong Kong political activist has been found guilty of rioting at a university besieged by police at the height of the 2019 anti-government protests, as a judge ruled his emergence from a manhole near the scene was proof of his participation.
The District Court ruled on Saturday that Alvin Cheng Kam-mun, a former assistant to ex-legislator Cheng Chung-tai, must have joined the violence inside Polytechnic University (PolyU) in November 2019, as he was seen coming out of an underground sewage chamber 600 metres away three days after the campus was barricaded by police.
The court also convicted four co-defendants, including a civil servant, of perverting the course of justice by attempting to help protesters flee from police. Three others pleaded guilty to the same charge before the start of last year’s trial.
The demonstrations in and around PolyU marked one of the most intense episodes of the unrest, sparked by a now-withdrawn extradition bill.
Protesters began occupying the university in Hung Hom on November 11 that year, fortifying its entrances and battling police.
The force sealed off the university’s entrances on the night of November 17 and cornered more than 1,000 people, prompting some to explore alternative ways to escape, such as through sewage tunnels.
The court heard police first intercepted driver Ip Ka-ki, 29, and decoration worker Ho Chi-ho, 30, on the morning of November 20 after spotting them loitering at Oi Man Estate in Ho Man Tin.