A special court docket beforehand cleared Jackie Chen of rioting after she mentioned she attended protests to name for restraint.
A Hong Kong court docket has convicted a social employee on costs of rioting over her attendance at 2019 antigovernment protests.
The decision, introduced on Tuesday, discovered Jackie Chen responsible regardless of a special court docket having acquitted her in 2020. The case went to retrial after an attraction from Hong Kong’s Secretary for Justice, underscoring a continued crackdown on political instances within the Chinese language territory.
Chen mentioned she had sought through the protests to mediate between police and protesters through the use of a loudspeaker to induce police to stay calm and never use their weapons.
Nonetheless, prosecutors argued that Chen actively participated in a riot.
She pleaded not responsible, however Deputy District Decide Might Chung dominated that Chen had made unfounded accusations in opposition to police, shouting “provocative” phrases that implied that they had used extreme drive.
“By way of her phrases and acts, [Chen] expressed her assist of the protesters, … which bolstered their willpower and confidence to withstand the police,” the decide wrote.
Earlier than the decision, Chen advised reporters she had no regrets and had spent 5 years making ready for the result.
“I hope all of the folks I do know will stay wholesome, they may stay glad as a result of we nonetheless have our street to stroll alongside,” she mentioned.
After the ruling, she reassured her supporters within the public gallery, shouting that she can be effective. She is because of be sentenced in April.
Rising crackdown
Whereas Hong Kong legislation permits for a most 10-year sentence for rioting, District court docket rulings are capped at seven years.
The case has drawn consideration resulting from Chen’s restricted position within the 2019 democracy protests, which posed the most important problem to Beijing’s rule over Hong Kong because the metropolis’s 1997 handover from its former colonial ruler, the UK.
The protests started over a proposed extradition invoice. It was later withdrawn, however the protests escalated into broader requires democracy and police accountability.
Beijing responded with a sweeping nationwide safety legislation, resulting in the prosecution of many activists. Authorities declare the legislation has restored stability.
Final 12 months, a court docket sentenced 45 pro-democracy activists to jail phrases of as much as 10 years within the first mass sentencing since Beijing imposed the legislation.
