Owen Au Cheuk-hei, the former president of students’ union of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, was sentenced to six-month imprisonment over unlawful assembly in Mong Kok in October 2019.
Au and four others were arrested during a protest in Mong Kok in October 2019. The other four include three students, Walter Tse Wai-lok, 21, Leung Hing-chun, 20, Yeung Chuek-wing, 20, as well as Wu Yiu-sang, a 49-year-old officer from the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department.
They faced a count of taking part in unlawful assembly and 12 counts of other charges.
Magistrate Jacky Ip Kai-leung today at Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts sentenced Au, Leung and Yeung to a six-month imprisonment. For Tse and Wu, they were sentenced to jail for eight and 7.5 months respectively.
Ip said the crimes they had committed were serious. He added that crowds in the case plotted to congest the traffic near Argyle Street and Tong Mei Road with fences, debris and stop flags. Large area was involved in the case and a great deal of police force was required for clearing the area.
He continued that the case originated in October 2019, a time when public order was most affected as the anti-mask law was launched. The risk of unlawful assemblies turning into violent events was high.
He therefore sentenced the five defendants to six-month jail for taking part in unlawful assembly. They were also sentenced to one month in jail for covering their faces during the protest, and two months in jail for holding items like walking sticks, spray paint and rubber straps.
Ip sentenced Tse to four-month jail for assaulting a police officer with an iron rod, and sentenced Wu to three months in jail for trying to stop officers from subduing Au.
All sentences will run concurrently.
