Fitness coach gets suspended sentence over 'cop-killing' Facebook post

A 35-year-old fitness coach was sentenced to 21-day imprisonment, suspended for 12 months for posting a photo of the cop who fired a shot in Sai Wan Ho during the social unrest and said "Kill this bas***d" on Facebook. 

Appearing before judge Russell Coleman in the High Court on Tuesday, Edward Sung Ho-tak was also ordered to pay legal fees of HK$180,000 to the Department of Justice. 

This is the first sentencing handed down for violating an order restricting inciting messages on the internet issued by the High Court on October 31, 2019. 

The interim injunction order prohibits anyone from distributing or publishing any messages or materials that advocate or encourage violence with intent to cause criminal damages to other people or properties on the internet or through other media, including but not limited to forum LIHKG and texting app Telegram. 

Sung pleaded guilty to contempt of court for violating the order by posting the photo of the cop who fired a live round in Sai Wan Ho on Facebook on November 11, 2019, and said, "Kill this bas***d." The next day, he also wrote on his Facebook page, "I hope to see the black cops die tonight" and "I must see black cops die tonight." 

When passing sentence, Coleman said the nature of publishing messages that incite violence is worse than doxing, and immediate imprisonment is the suitable punishment for Sung's crime, which could cause a ripple effect. 

On another note, Coleman also slammed the Department for initiating prosecution procedures against Sung two years later when peace had been restored to the society. 

Coleman continued that police had decided not to lay criminal charges on Sung in February 2020. However, it wasn't until October last year that the Department started civil action against Sung, which was adjourned until today. 

In court, the Department's lawyer said the case was delayed because they had to seek legal advice first, and police needed time for investigation. 

Earlier in court, the lawyer said Sung read the news and must have known about the injunction order. The lawyer also said Sung's page was followed by some 1,000 friends and the posts he published could be easily spread and stressed the close association between the internet and reality. 

In mitigation, the defense said Sung was struggling to make a living at the material time and submitted several mitigation letters that described him as a man of sympathy. 

Sung was arrested on November 14, 2019, and he soon deleted the Facebook posts and apologized to police after he was released on bail, the defense continued.