Protesters hold umbrellas outside government headquarters in Admiralty on June 11, a night before the second debate on the extradition bill. Photo: Dickson Lee
Source:
https://scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3093169/hong-kong-protests-student-21-jailed-10-months-over Law and Crime
Hong Kong protests: student, 21, jailed for 10 months over home-made blowtorches while teen, 17, gets probation for traffic light vandalism
- Ma Tsz-lok, 21, was found with weapons on him the night before protesters clashed with police outside Legco
- Separately, teen, 17, given 18 months’ probation, after admitting to damaging traffic light during Mong Kok protest
The Eastern Law Courts Building in Sai Wan Ho. Photo: Nora Tam
A 21-year-old student in Hong Kong has been jailed for 10 months for carrying three home-made blowtorches in the lead-up to a major clash during last year’s civil unrest, while a teenager, 17, received probation for vandalising a traffic light at another protest.
Ma Tsz-lok was sentenced at Eastern Court after he was convicted of possessing offensive weapons in a public place in Sheung Wan on June 11, a night before protesters clashed with police outside the legislature.
Lawmakers had planned to resume the second debate of the now-withdrawn extradition bill.
Ma, a student at the Hong Kong Design Institute, was intercepted by police at 10pm that day and found with three aerosol spray cans, each attached with a lighter that could produce flames up to a range of 1.5 metres.
He initially told officers the home-made devices were for a barbecue, but later confessed he had intended to use them for self-defence during the protest outside the Legislative Council the next day.
Ma’s claim about his intended use of the weapons in protests was ignored by Magistrate Cheang Kei-hong, who found the arresting officer did not caution the student before questioning. However, Cheang ruled that what appeared to be burning tools were in fact powerful weapons that could only be used to injure others.
Anyone aged between 21 and 24 who is convicted of this offence can either be sentenced to jail or a detention centre.
Cheang jailed Ma on Tuesday after learning he was physically unfit for intensive labour at a detention facility.
Meanwhile at Kowloon City Court, Form Six student M.D. Nahyan Reza was given 18 months’ probation, after he admitted to damaging a traffic light during a protest in Mong Kok on October 13.
The Bangladeshi student was filmed smashing the installation on Dundas Street near the junction of Nathan Road at around 6pm, when a group of protesters blocked roads at the location.
Following his arrest four days later, he told officers: “That’s me. I am naughty, [it was a] stupid decision. I wish I hadn’t done it.”
On Tuesday, Principal Magistrate Ada Yim Shun-yee accepted the probation officer’s recommendation and ordered him to be sent to a youth outreach hostel during the probation period. She also told the teenager to return to court on January 15 next year to review his rehabilitation progress.