Hong Kong protests: actor Gregory Wong admits going to Legco was ‘foolish’ amid 2019 social unrest, as he contests rioting charge

Movie and television actor, 44, is among six men standing trial on a joint rioting charge over break-in at Legco building by anti-government protesters on July 1 four years ago
Wong says he went to vandalised complex that night to deliver two chargers to an unknown reporter covering the incident

Hong Kong courts

Brian Wong

Published: 7:46pm, 14 Jul 2023

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A Hong Kong actor contesting a rioting charge has admitted it was ‘foolish’ of him to insist on going to the Legislative Council after anti-government protesters stormed and trashed the building in mid-2019.

Gregory Wong Chung-yiu, 44, told West Kowloon Court on Friday that the real reason for his presence in the vandalised complex was to deliver two chargers to an unknown reporter covering the break-in on July 1 four years ago.

“I understand it was a very foolish thing to do, but at the time I was purely thinking about that,” the television and film star said in the witness box.

Wong is among six men standing trial on a joint rioting charge arising from one of the most chaotic chapters of the 2019 social unrest.

Actor Gregory Wong is among those contesting a rioting charge over the break-in at Legco. Photo: Brian Wong

Seven others, including protest organiser Ventus Lau Wing-hong, 29, and former student leader Althea Suen, 27, pleaded guilty before the trial began in May.

Wong admitted a lesser count of trespassing in the Legco chamber, which is punishable by up to three months imprisonment, but denied the rioting charge which carries a maximum jail sentence of 10 years.

He testified that before his unwarranted entry to the legislature, he had joined a lawful procession to show his disapproval of how the government handled that year’s political crisis triggered by a later-withdrawn extradition bill.

Wong said he followed the crowd from Causeway Bay to Central’s Chater Garden before returning to Tamar to observe the protest outside Legco.

The artist then received a call for help from his friends that a journalist was in need of chargers for their work, the court was told.

Hong Kong court orders retrial of 4 acquitted of rioting during 2019 protests

Wong said he left to buy several chargers and returned to Legco to hand them over to a man he believed was a colleague of the reporter.

He said he drove to Kwai Chung, more than 15km (9 miles) from where he then lived, because he could not find a shop selling the items nearby.

The court heard the artist arrived at Legco at around 11.40pm and left in less than five minutes. He reportedly stayed inside the defaced chamber for no more than 27 seconds.

Prosecutor William Tam Yiu-ho SC challenged Wong’s account by highlighting the unusual trip he made just to buy something for someone he had never met before.

“Did you go scrambling for chargers without knowing the reason why or how urgent it was?” he asked Wong.

“I’m pretty happy to help those around me,” the artist replied.

Activist jailed for 3 years for rioting, awaiting sentencing in subversion case

Tam also suggested the artist’s political stance was consistent with those who barged in and vandalised Legco.

Wong acknowledged he had supported the protesters’ Five Demands, which included the resignation of then leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and the implementation of universal suffrage, but stressed he was against violence or breaking the law to achieve political goals.

The trial continues before deputy judge Li Chi-ho. It has been slated to last 44 days.

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