Former Baptist University student unionist sentenced to nine months in jail

The former president of the student union of Hong Kong Baptist University was sentenced to nine months imprisonment for resisting arrest and perverting the course of public justice.  

Keith Fong Chung-yin, 23, was charged with carrying offensive weapons, namely 10 laser pointers, in public areas between Apliu Street and Kweilin Street, as well as resisting arrest by an officer outside a convenience store on Kweilin Street. He also reset his smartphone before officers seized it as evidence on August 6, 2019.  

He pleaded not guilty to all charges and was acquitted of possessing offensive weapons. However, he was found guilty of resisting arrest and perverting the course of justice at the District Court in February this year.   

Judge Douglas Yau Tak-hong sentenced him to nine months behind bars at the District Court on Thursday.   

He said justice is one of the cornerstones of Hong Kong that could not be shaken. The defendant committed the offenses with premeditation, so it is necessary to imprison him for deterrent effect.  

Police officers found Fong to be acting suspiciously after buying laser pointers, but he forcefully resisted when he was intercepted.   

Although the process was shorter and less serious than similar cases, the judge deemed that the defendant's claim that the laser pointers were used for stargazing was not true. It was possible that Fong would use them himself or distribute them to others in protests, and fining Fong would not be a deterring sentence.   

As for perverting the course of public justice, Yau stressed that it is a serious offense even if violence or intimidation is not involved.   

He also said immediate imprisonment is generally inevitable unless in exceptional circumstances.   

Yau added that the defendant did not commit the offense on the spur of the moment. He removed the SIM card during his stay in the hospital with a special object, which he must have had in his possession beforehand, reflecting the action was premeditated.   

Police failed to restore voice data on his phone following his action, which affected evidence collection, Yau said.   

Although the charge of possessing offensive weapons had not yet entered the judicial process, the police could still obtain the information in the defendant's phone via other means. However, the voice data could not be restored, which had an impact on the evidence collection.   

The sentence came after the defense pleaded that Fong had no criminal record and promised not to commit the same offense.   

The defense also said that the defendant has been remanded in custody for eight weeks because of the pandemic and has learned his lesson.  

Fong has received offers from the University of Glasgow and SOAS University of London and received scholarships from the University of Glasgow. The defense hoped Fong could be fined instead of imprisoned, which was rejected by the judge.    

The defense also presented several letters from the defendant's secondary school principal and his mother, saying that he took up the position as president of the student union when no one came forward. He was a good and honest person with commitment and ambition who would definitely contribute to society in the future.