Hong Kong independence activist Edward Leung found guilty of rioting but cleared of incitement over Mong Kok unrest
The 26-year-old member of localist group Hong Kong Indigenous had been on trial since January over the night of chaos that unfolded across Mong Kok in February 2016
A young activist widely regarded as the face of Hong Kong’s marginalised independence movement was found guilty on Friday of rioting, but cleared of incitement over his high-profile role in one of the city’s worst outbreaks of civil unrest in recent years.
Edward Leung Tin-kei faces up to 10 years behind bars after a nine-member jury unanimously convicted him following three days of deliberations, ending a 54-day trial that provided vivid details of the Mong Kok riot in 2016.
Prosecutors painted the 26-year-old as a central figure in the clashes between police and a violent mob that began with a scuffle between street hawkers and municipal staff in Portland Street on the night of February 8, the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday.
Leung and a localist comrade, Ray Wong Toi-yeung, were accused of playing a leading part in the violence and inciting the angry crowd to attack police officers outside the popular Langham Place shopping mall in the small hours of the next day.
The verdict meant the jury found Leung had indeed taken part in the riot, but did not play a central role.
Leung’s co-accused, Lo Kin-man, 31, was also found guilty of rioting, while Lam Lun-hing, 24, was cleared of three counts of rioting.