14 protesters found guilty of rioting near Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong 2 years ago
- Defendants were convicted based on their black clothing and protest equipment at time of arrest
- Prosecutors have charged 44 people with rioting in three separate cases over the chaos that erupted in Sheung Wan on July 28, 2019
Fourteen people have been found guilty of rioting near Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong two years ago, after a judge ruled they had “participatory intent” based on their black clothes and protest equipment in their possession.
The nine men and five women were the second batch of defendants to be convicted over the incident in Sheung Wan on July 28, 2019, after the city’s top court laid down principles on trials for rioting and unlawful assembly.
The 14 defendants, aged between 21 and 34, were found guilty on Thursday of taking part in the riot that stretched several blocks from Morrison Street to Rumsey Street, about 1km away from the liaison office and Western police station.
The defendants were accused of engaging in a guerilla-style battle with police that lasted nearly six hours before they were arrested along with three others on Man Wa Lane at around 9.47pm.
During the District Court trial, heard in the more spacious West Kowloon Court, prosecutors largely relied on circumstantial evidence as they had provided no evidence proving the suspects were involved in any violent act.
Video footage showed five of the accused – student Leung Chi-pang, cooks Chan Wai-lam and Yeung Wai-sing, electrician Lam Ho-ching and Lau Yiu-chuen who did not disclose his occupation – moving in sync with the gathering protesters.
