Hong Kong protests: leader of city’s largest opposition party cleared of unlawful assembly charge
- Democratic Party chairman Lo Kin-hei was arrested near Polytechnic University in Hung Hom, the site of one of the most violent episodes in the 2019 unrest
- Some among nine others arrested with Lo have been jailed after pleading guilty to the same offence
The leader of Hong Kong’s largest opposition party was on Wednesday cleared of taking part in an unlawful assembly near a university under siege by police during a violent anti-government protest three years ago.
Democratic Party chairman Lo Kin-hei, 38, stood trial in the District Court from September for his alleged role in an illegal gathering 300 metres from Polytechnic University in Hung Hom on November 18, 2019.
The politician and nine others, including a primary school teacher and a journalist, were arrested at Science Museum Square that morning after some protesters challenged a police cordon.
Four of them were jailed last month for between 14 and 18 months after pleading guilty to the same offence, with a fifth defendant sentenced to up to nine months’ detention at a rehabilitation centre.
On Wednesday, Judge Ernest Michael Lin Kam-hung acquitted Lo of the charge, on the grounds he could not be sure the politician had gathered with other protesters for a common purpose.
But Lin convicted teacher Mok Tak-wai, retiree Chan Chung-yee, and Tam Ho-ming, who was jobless at the time of the incident.
