Sentencing looms for four over praise of cop stabber

Four former council members of Hong Kong University Students' Union admitted to conspiracy to wounding with intent over the passage of a motion to "thank" a man soon after he had stabbed a police officer on July 1, 2021, and will be sentenced on Thursday.

The four - Kinson Cheung King-sang, 21, Kwok Wing-ho, 22, Chris Todorovski Shing-hang, 20, and Yung Cheung-hei, 21 - pleaded not guilty to advocating terrorism but admitted an alternative charge of conspiracy to wounding with intent before district court judge Adriana Noelle Tse Ching yesterday.

Tse then dropped the charge of advocating terrorism and adjourned the case to Thursday for mitigation. The four students were granted bail.

The court heard that the four attended a meeting in July 2021 that passed a motion to "express deep sadness" and "thank the sacrifice" of 50-year-old Leung Kin-fai, who knifed and wounded a police officer in Causeway Bay on July 1 and then stabbed himself to death.

Cheung emailed council members on July 5 to hold the meeting and led members to mourn Leung's death during the meeting on July 7.

During the meeting, Kwok said the authorities defined the case as a "lone wolf-style act of domestic terrorism" and politicalized all mourning events. He also described Leung as a martyr who had sacrificed for Hong Kong and said the assault should be recorded in the HKU student society document.

Todorovski supported the motion, saying everyone in Hong Kong should remember "the truth" and Leung's sacrifice. He added that the police were stopping citizens from expressing the truth by all means.

Yung said the incident happened in a "desperate" year and "the persons who are regarded as terrorists by the Chinese Communist Party are heroes."

The Security Bureau on July 8 condemned the students' behavior for "beautifying and treating as heroic the blatant violence of the attacker who attempted to murder a police officer."

The HKU also issued a statement to condemn the motion.

The council held a press conference the following day, with Kwok apologizing and saying it would retract the motion. He added that the students did not intend to encourage any illegal acts.

The police made inquiries at the university on July 16 and arrested the four on August 18.

Cheung told the police that he was responsible for hosting the meeting while recording it, adding the motion was proposed by Kwok. He also expressed remorse for failing to stop the others from making speeches over the incident.