Hong Kong protests: first person found guilty for possessing zip ties appeals decision
- Zip ties were a common sight during the 2019 protests, and the current case is expected to affect more than 100 others involving the same charge
- The appeal centres on the grammatical structure of the ordinance in question, specifically a missing Oxford comma in the portion dealing with ‘instruments fit for unlawful purposes’
Property agent Chan Chun-kit, 35, was jailed for 5½ months last year for carrying 48 zip ties – each measuring six inches long – when he was intercepted by police near the scene of clashes at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay on November 2, 2019.
He was the first person to be tried and convicted of possession of an offensive weapon or instrument fit for unlawful purposes over the zip ties, a type of plastic fastener commonly used for holding items, such as electrical cables, together.
The ties were also commonly used during the 2019 unrest – both by protesters lashing together barricades for roadblocks, and by police in restraining suspects. In one especially high-profile instance, they were also used by protesters to tie up a mainland Chinese journalist during a sit-in at the airport in August 2019.
The outcome of Chan’s appeal is expected to affect more than 100 cases involving the same charge.
Mr Justice Jeremy Poon Shiu-chor, the chief judge of the High Court, along with Mr Justice Derek Pang Wai-cheong and Madam Justice Anthea Pang Po-kam have reserved judgment.
At the centre of the appeal is the wording of the Summary Offences Ordinance, which states that “any person who has in his possession any wrist restraint or other instrument or article manufactured for the purpose of physically restraining a person, any handcuffs or thumbcuffs, any offensive weapon, or any crowbar, picklock, skeleton-key or other instrument fit for unlawful purposes, with intent to use the same for any unlawful purposes” is liable to a HK$5,000 fine or two years’ imprisonment.
