Former Hong Kong district councillor jailed for 5 weeks for attempted criminal intimidation over Facebook post
- Ben Ho, 32, claimed he was under immense pressure when he posted the message of a ‘clearance operation’ targeting street gamblers and the noise they created
- Magistrate Jeffrey Sze dismisses Ho’s claim, says unequivocal wording of the post and decision to publish it showed a clear intention to alarm others
A former district councillor has been jailed for five weeks for posting an image of a kitchen knife on social media threatening to injure illegal gamblers in a Hong Kong neighbourhood.
Ben Ho Wai-pan, 32, returned to Tuen Mun Court on Tuesday to be sentenced on a count of attempted criminal intimidation stemming from a Facebook post on March 21, 2020.
The former member of Yuen Long District Council declared that he would start a “clearance operation” targeting street gamblers who assembled in Tin Yiu Estate in Tin Shui Wai, saying the noise they created had caused a public nuisance.
He said he was “very much in a dilemma” as efforts to get police and security officers of the housing complex to address the problem had been met with tepid responses.
He claimed he would carry anything such as rods, knives or saws to the March 23 operation outside a residential block to “give the old folks a stern telling off, fence off the area” and “sweep and mop the ground”, with an image of a kitchen knife attached to the text.
“If any of your family members are going to sit out there to play card games, give them a reminder so they know what to do … Mind your own safety and keep yourself out of this,” the former politician added.
Ho resigned hours after his arrest last July, but did not detail his reasons.
