Localist icon Edward Leung Tin-kei to be released from jail next Wed

Localist Edward Leung Tin-kei is set to be released from prison next Wednesday (Jan 19), after completing his six-year jail term for rioting in Mong Kong during the Lunar New Year holiday in 2016.

Leung, now 30, the former spokesman of localist group Hong Kong Indigenous, was sentenced to six years behind bars in June 2018 by the High Court, after convicted of rioting during the so-called “Fishball Revolution” in Mong Kok on the first night of the Lunar New Year in February 2016.

He had also pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer, for which he was sentenced to 12 months, but to run concurrently.

It is understood that Leung, who is listed as category A prisoner for those that would pose the most threat to the public, is serving his sentence at Shek Pik Prison on Lantau Island.

Some sources said Leung’s reduced period of imprisonment was a normal arrangement after deducting the holidays, instead of an early release as some had described it.

It is also believe Leung has been behaving well in prison, and was assigned to do chores like binding books. He was getting along with other prisoners and always hoped to leave the prison as soon as possible so to reunite with his family.

Someone who has been in touch with Leung claimed that the localist leader has changed his thoughts on many issues after spending four years in prison, and may live a low-key life after his release.

Considering Leung’s sensitive identity, it is expected that there will be a large crowd and media covering his release, and authorities are considering plans such as allowing him to leave the prison by himself, or deploy a special car to take him.

In 2015, Leung joined Hong Kong Indigenous, founded by self-exiled activist Ray Wong Toi-yeung and participated in the New Territories East by-election in February the following year (2016) with an election slogan “Liberate Hong Kong; revolution of our times,” a phrase that was frequently used by protesters during the anti-fugitive bill protests in 2019.

But he lost the by-election to now-remanded barrister Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu, after only attaining 66,524 votes.

Leung then ran in the Legislative Council election in September, 2016, but was disqualified by the returning officer who said she did not believe Leung had genuinely changed his previous stance for independence.

Leung earned his bachelor's degree in philosophy with a minor in politics and public administration from the University of Hong Kong in 2017.