#thread of sentence for Sin Ka-ho, a 22yo lifeguard who plead guilty of rioting outside the public entrance of LegCo on 6.12 in 2019.
1) Judge spent most of the space in “facts” to reconstruct what happened between 3pm to 4pm that day to establish how the situation descended ...
1) Judge spent most of the space in “facts” to reconstruct what happened between 3pm to 4pm that day to establish how the situation descended ...
...into a riot. Although she admitted that the borderline between unlawful assembly and riot is always difficult to draw, she cannot accept the mitigation that defender was acting spontaneously.
2) Given that defender was filmed continuing to throw objects to police...
2) Given that defender was filmed continuing to throw objects to police...
...and their check line outside LegCo’s public entrance after protesters beside and behind him had all run away, judge said he was acting “in a disorderly, intimidating, provocative and assaulting manner” and was “caught red handed”.
3) Judge believed that the 6.12 riot was...
3) Judge believed that the 6.12 riot was...
...more serious that the one in 2016’s Lunar New Year in Mong Kok and had crossed the line where peaceful public assembly remained a legally protected freedom.
4) Judge considered the extent of the overall riot instead of the defender’s own behaviours and the element of...
4) Judge considered the extent of the overall riot instead of the defender’s own behaviours and the element of...
...deterrence in determining the staring point of sentence.
5) None of the means of intercede raised by the defender, including his clean record, young age and many letters from families and friends, has mitigated any fact significantly, judge said...
5) None of the means of intercede raised by the defender, including his clean record, young age and many letters from families and friends, has mitigated any fact significantly, judge said...
6) The starting point of sentence was determined at 6 years and 1/3 reduction was granted due to defender’s plead of guilty. Eventually he got 4 years’ imprisonment.
Side note: Sin’s parents, elder brother and girlfriend were present for the sentence. Both ...
Side note: Sin’s parents, elder brother and girlfriend were present for the sentence. Both ...
...his mother and girlfriend burst into tears outside the courtroom, where dozens of audience stood in suffocating silence.
After sentence was read, one of the audience in court shouted “Hang in there, sau zuk (hands and feet, or comrade)”.
After sentence was read, one of the audience in court shouted “Hang in there, sau zuk (hands and feet, or comrade)”.
