Don’t emulate Pontius Pilate: Hong Kong magistrate refuses to jail three Occupy student leaders
Government prosecutors argued that community service orders were insufficient over storming of government headquarters forecourt
Eastern Court magistrate June Cheung Tin-ngan spared jail for newly elected lawmaker Nathan Law Kwun-chung and student activists Joshua Wong Chi-fung and Alex Chow Yong-kang last month after finding them guilty. But reviewing her ruling yesterday, prosecutors argued that the only suitable option should be immediate custodial sentences.
Counsel Edwin Choy Wai-bond, for Chow, urged the magistrate – in a biblical reference – not to be like Pilate, the Roman governor who bowed to mob pressure to hand Jesus Christ over to his enemies for crucifixion.
He also said he felt for the prosecutors, who had to “turn the law upside down”.
Refusing to jail the trio, Cheung said she had considered all the grounds put forward by the prosecutors in her earlier ruling.
