Hong Kong News Hub: 6 found guilty of rioting near PolyU during Hong Kong protests in 2019, as judge casts doubt on alibis

Six people have been found guilty of taking part in a riot in Yau Ma Tei in 2019, as intense clashes broke out on a nearby university campus during protests and unrest that wracked Hong Kong that year, with the judge casting doubt on their alibis.

Yip Wai-shing, Eric Yung, Wan Yik-hong, Wan Yiu-fai, Wong Chun-fai, and Yiu Tsz-chun appeared before judge Stanley Chan at District Court on Thursday afternoon. They had earlier pleaded not guilty to rioting in Yau Ma Tei on November 28, 2019.

November 18 Dylan Hollingsworth yau ma tei — Photo: Dylan Hollingsworth/HKFP.

Judge Chan called the case “uncomplicated,” saying that the riot had to be considered within the context of the “overall circumstances” at the time, including the days-long siege of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU).

The Yau Ma Tei demonstration took place as protesters occupied PolyU in nearby Hung Hom, which resulted in almost 1,400 people arrested on campus and in neighbouring districts.

According to the case details read out in Cantonese, police officers were deployed to the vicinity of Waterloo Road and Nathan Road. The area was said to resemble a “battlefield” with bricks, glass bottles, umbrellas, helmets, and other objects strewn across the ground, which was covered in “politically charged writing and graffiti.”

“All six defendants claim that they did not participate in the riot but were present at the scene for their own reasons, leading to their arrests by the police,” according to Chan’s verdict written in Chinese.

Alibis in doubt

The judge said he found it “strange” that several defendants claimed they did not follow the news, adding that it was unlikely they were unaware of the siege.

Chan rejected Yip’s claim that he was just passing through the area, saying that “nobody could have mistaken [the riot] for a carnival celebration.” The only reasonable inference was that Yip, who was wearing black and carrying nine bottles of saline solution – which was commonly used by protesters to ease the effects of tear gas – had participated in the riot, Chan said.

Wan Yiu-fai had testified that he was arrested when heading home after a hotpot dinner at a friend’s place in Ho Man Tin, after setting off from the University of Hong Kong by taxi. But Chan doubted his testimony, saying that it was “suspicious” that his group of five had no trouble finding a five-seater taxi, as most were four-seaters.

Chan said he had participated in the riot by “showing support and encouragement,” and found him guilty.

Chan also said it was suspicious that Yung had claimed he was at a birthday celebration that day before he was arrested, but did not take any photos or post on social media.

Chan found Wan Yik-hong guilty after pointing out that a handwritten clock-in card and payment receipts presented as evidence that Wan had just finished work did not bear Wan’s signature.

Circumstantial evidence

Several of the defendants’ lawyers had earlier argued that the prosecution relied only on circumstantial evidence, and was not able to provide concrete corroborating evidence that the defendants had participated in the riot when they were in Yau Ma Tei.

According to the verdict, Chan cited circumstantial evidence in finding defendants Wong and Wan Yiu-fai guilty.

polyu siege november 2019 united social press hkfp lens — Photo: Benjamin Yuen/United Social Press.

While Chan agreed with the defence argument that whether the defendants had worn black should not be a core consideration in determining whether they had participated in riots, he said the inverse was also true. Black clothing became the de facto uniform of protesters during the 2019 unrest.

“By the same token, just because a person is not wearing black or dark-coloured clothing does not necessarily mean that they cannot be a participant in an unlawful assembly, protester, or rioter,” he said, adding that he could not consider Yiu “an innocent passer-by” based solely on the colour of his T-shirt.

Mitigation and sentencing for the case will be carried out on November 30.

Protests erupted in June 2019 over a since-axed extradition bill. They escalated into sometimes violent displays of dissent against police behaviour, amid calls for democracy and anger over Beijing’s encroachment. Demonstrators demanded an independent probe into police conduct, amnesty for those arrested and a halt to the characterisation of protests as “riots.”

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