Photo: Hong Kong Stream
By Tess Langbroek
Siu Tsz-Fung, 23, a Hong Kong resident, has pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer, while Luk Ka-yu, 23, pleaded guilty to aiding Siu during a protest held in Central in 2019. The pair pleaded ‘not-guilty’ to rioting, Hong Kong Free Press reports. Their defense lawyer argued that the alleged riot only occurred after the police had apprehended the pair.
On December 22, 2019, approximately 1,000 Hongkongers gathered at Edinburgh Place to express their support for Uyghurs in ‘Xinjiang’ (East Turkistan). It was the first of its kind in Hong Kong to express solidarity with the Uyghurs.
One protester removed a Chinese flag from a flagpole next to the rally location. Riot police pointed a pistol at the protesters, beat them with batons, and responded with pepper spray to disperse the crowd.
Franco Kuan, the advocate representing both defendants, added that both Luk and Siu were not at the center of the scene and were by no means involved in a riot.
In May, Leung Ka-wai, a co-defendant of the two, pleaded guilty to taking part in a riot and assaulting police. He received a sentence of two years and four months in prison.