Hong Kong protester Fung Ching-wah was sentenced to four years prison on Monday over rioting and perverting the course of justice, according to Hong Kong Free Press. Fung previously pleaded guilty to rioting and perverting the course of justice on August 23.
Fung was arrested during the National Day protests in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong on October 1, 2019. He was released on bail after being charged for rioting and was told to report to Tsuen Wan Police Station twice a week. However, he was later found on October 31, 2020 to have disappeared and was absent from two subsequent hearings he was obligated to attend. The court issued a warrant for his arrest in February 2021 before police officers captured him attempting to flee Hong Kong for Taiwan via boat on July 13 this year.
In sentencing Fung to four years prison, Deputy District Judge Pang Leung-ting disagreed with the defense’s claims that Fung’s sentence should be reduced because he spent 517 days in hiding that were comparable to being under house arrest. Pang commuted Fung’s rioting charge by one-fifth instead of the usual one-third for offenders who plead guilty because Fung had been absent at previous hearings and attempted to escape from Hong Kong. He also commuted Fung’s perversion of justice charge by one-third in light of Fung’s good character.
The 2019 Hong Kong protests were fueled by the Hong Kong extradition bill that proposed to allow the transfer of fugitives from Hong Kong to jurisdictions that lack an extradition deal with Hong Kong, such as mainland China. The bill was later withdrawn by former Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on September 4, 2019 after a series of mass protests in the summer.
In recent months, Hong Kong courts have handed down a number of convictions involving the 2019 protests. In addition to Fung, Tsang Chi-kin, who was shot by a police officer during the National Day protests, has been charged for rioting and assaulting police at the protest. His lawyer has said that he intends to plead guilty and he is due to submit his plea on September 28.
