Former Hong Kong Democratic lawmaker among seven convicted of rioting after 2019 mob attack By Reuters

Written by James Pomfret and Jesse Pang

HONG KONG (Reuters) – A Hong Kong court on Thursday found prominent former pro-democracy lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting guilty of rioting after he was attacked by a white-shirted mob in July 2019 at the height of pro-democracy protests that year.

On the night of July 21, 2019, more than 100 men wearing white shirts stormed Yuen Long metro station in the northwest of the province, attacking passers-by and journalists with clubs and sticks. Ten of the attackers ended up being imprisoned on charges of rioting and conspiracy to injure with intent.

Lam, 47, a longtime member of the Democratic Party, was arrested 13 months after the incident and charged with rioting and helping to incite violence.

He told the court he rushed to the scene to help, but ended up in hospital with head, mouth, arm and wrist injuries that required 16-18 stitches, after being attacked.

District Court Judge Stanley Chan said he did not believe Lam went to mediation, but instead wanted to gain some political advantage while his posts on Facebook (NASDAQ:) attracted more people like a “magnet.”

“His aim was to provoke an emotional confrontation with the white shirts and fan the flames,” Chan said.

Six other men were also convicted: Yu Ka Ho, Jason Chan, Yip Kam Seng, Kwong Ho Lam, Wan Chung Ming and Marco Yeung.

Some relatives began crying after the verdict, while Lam, who like the others pleaded not guilty, appeared immobile with his arms folded in the dock.

In a nearly four-hour hearing in a packed courtroom, Chan detailed how the men retaliated by spraying fire hoses and fire extinguishers, as well as throwing water bottles at the mob.

He rejected arguments that some acted reasonably in self-defense or to protect others, but displayed “unruly behaviour” that provoked the white-coated gang.

Chan also said that the slow police deployment that night was not “an excuse to provoke the other party, or even an excuse to use violence against violence.”

Sentencing is scheduled for February 27, with a maximum prison sentence of seven years.

In an ongoing crackdown on dissent in the Asian financial hub after the 2019 protests, pro-democracy activists have been jailed or exiled, liberal civil society and the media have been shut down, and electoral reform has barred opposition democrats from participating in elections.

Countries including the United States have criticized the crackdown, but Beijing and Hong Kong authorities say everyone is treated equally under the law, and two sets of national security laws enacted since 2020 have restored stability.

Lam is already serving a prison sentence of six years and nine months on a separate national security charge.

Galileo Cheng, a journalist who was injured during the attack, said: “Such a sentence is unfair to those brave people who were trying to save passengers, including me, from being assaulted by the white-shirted mob, an act of self-defense.” He told Reuters.