After retrial, Hong Kong court jails social worker nearly 4 years for rioting
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Social worker Jackie Chen was frequently with a loudhailer, liaising between protesters and police officers.
PHOTO: REUTERS
HONG KONG - A Hong Kong court sentenced a prominent social worker on April 8 to three years and nine months’ imprisonment for rioting during the city’s 2019 pro-democracy protests, following a retrial.
Jackie Chen was convicted by Deputy District Judge May Chung in March.
Jackie had pleaded not guilty and declined to testify during her retrial, which was ordered after she was found innocent of the charges in 2020.
Judge Chung said in her judgment that as Hong Kong is a society with rule of law, the sentencing imposed by the court must have a deterrent effect.
Chen was initially cleared of rioting in the Wan Chai and Causeway Bay districts on Aug 31, 2019, after District Court Judge Sham Siu-man ruled that the prosecutors had failed to establish a prima facie case against her.
Three other defendants – Lai Pui Ki, Chung Ka Nang and Jason Gung – were sentenced to two years and five months’ jail after pleading guilty at retrial. They had initially also been acquitted by Judge Sham.
Months of sometimes-violent pro-democracy protests rocked Hong Kong in 2019 and sparked a Beijing-imposed security crackdown.
Chen, a member of the Battlefield Social Worker group during the 2019 protests, was frequently seen by witnesses with a loudhailer, liaising between protesters and police officers, monitoring police action and offering emotional support to people.
Judge Chung noted Chen’s use of a loudhailer, saying she encouraged the riot through shouting.
The judge also said she had taken into account the fact that Chen was under mental stress from the retrial, would have her social worker’s licence revoked and that she had been a social worker for years.
Rioting is capped at a maximum seven-year sentence at the District Court.
Separately, Chow Kim-ho, a former member of the pro-democracy group League of Social Democrats, was jailed on April 8 for one year for posting seditious comments on three social media platforms under the city’s home-grown national security law. He had earlier pleaded guilty. REUTERS
