Two former university student leaders who were convicted over mourning a man who stabbed a police officer before taking his own life in July 2021 have filed to appeal against their two-year sentences.
Anthony Yung and Charles Kwok, who had been leaders of the University of Hong Kong’s students’ union, applied to appeal their sentences on Thursday, according to court records. The move came after the two others involved in the case, Kinson Cheung and Chris Todorovski, did the same on Tuesday.
The four were jailed for two years each last month for incitement to wound over a controversial motion they passed to mourn a man who stabbed a police officer before taking his own life in July 2021.
The group was arrested and charged that August with advocating terrorism, an offence under the national security law, and an alternative charge of incitement to wound with intent.
In September, they pleaded guilty to the alternative charge and were taken into custody ahead of sentencing.
Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution in June 2020 following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts – broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers, led to hundreds of convictions amid new legal precedents, whilst dozens of civil society groups disappeared. The authorities say it restored stability and peace to the city, rejecting criticism from trade partners, the UN and NGOs, despite an overall rise in crime.
‘In good conscience’
At last month’s sentencing, District Judge Adriana Noelle Tse Ching said the four defendants, who were aged 18 to 21 at the time of the incident, had glorified violence and abused their powers as student leaders by “[publishing] the inciting words” via an official channel – a students’ union council meeting.
Tse also said that the students had held the meeting, which was broadcast live on social media channels, in “open defiance of the law” in spite of the government’s condemnation of the attack on the officer.
In her judgement last month, Tse said she doubted then-union president Kwok’s remorse, quoting him as saying in his mitigation letter that it would be difficult for the public to regain their trust in the police.
“Even though two years have passed, I cannot, in good conscience, say that I suddenly went from hating the police to giving them my full support; nor can I say that the police haven’t made arbitrary arrests and abused their power, or that the sole responsibility lies on the protesters,” Kwok was quoted as saying.
An independent probe into police conduct was one of the key demands of demonstrators when protests erupted in June 2019 over a since-axed extradition bill. The demonstrations escalated into sometimes violent displays of dissent against police behaviour, amid calls for democracy and anger over Beijing’s encroachment.
The court heard that the motion to mourn Leung was raised by then-union president Kwok and seconded by Todorovski. Tse called the defendants’ remorse “shallow,” saying that Yung, as well as Kwok and Todorovski, did not attend a meeting where the motion was withdrawn.
Cheung, who convened the council meetings, had “tried to hide behind the need for impartiality” throughout proceedings, Tse wrote in her judgement last month.
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