Activist who crossed police barricade says he may appeal against sentence as too harsh
THOMAS CHANthomas.chan@scmp.com
PUBLISHED : Friday, 31 July, 2015, 2:57am
UPDATED : Friday, 31 July, 2015, 2:57am
Li was in Hong Kong to attend a forum in September to discuss the 2017 electoral framework set by Beijing, which pro-democracy activists opposed, saying it did not offer Hongkongers a real choice of candidates. Photo: EPA
A social activist who crossed a police barrier around a protest zone last year was ordered yesterday to perform 200 hours of community service after he was found guilty of resisting a police officer.
The activist, Cheng Ho-man, a 23-year-old member of the group Civic Passion, said outside Eastern Court that he would consider filing an appeal against the sentence.
Cheng was convicted on July 16 of one count of resisting an officer for the incident in September, when he was arrested for crossing a barricade police had erected around a designated protest zone during a visit by Basic Law Committee chairman Li Fei.
Magistrate Colin Wong Sze-cheung said: "This case involved a public assembly, and the defendant did rush to the road. The consequences could be serious, and it might cause danger to other people."
Prior to his sentencing, Cheng told an officer in a community service order report that he had reflected on his actions and would behave himself more calmly in protests in the future, Wong said during the hearing. Cheng might have faced a harsher punishment otherwise.
But outside the courthouse, Cheng said the punishment was still too severe because of the number of hours he was given.
Pro-democracy lawmakers hold up a banner and signs during a protest as Li Fei (seen on screen), deputy general secretary of the National People's Congress (NPC) standing committee, speaks during a briefing session in Hong Kong September 1, 2014. Photo: Reuters
His fellow Civic Passion member, Cheng Chung-tai, appeared with him outside court and accused the government of using the judicial system as a tool to suppress dissidents.
During the trial, Cheng's barrister, David Chu, said his client was only trying to make his way past the cordon near the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong hotel in Wan Chai, where Li was staying during his September 1 visit.
Li was in Hong Kong to attend a forum to discuss the 2017 electoral framework set by Beijing, which pro-democracy activists opposed, saying it did not offer Hongkongers a real choice of candidates.
Chu said a group of police officers had violently apprehended Cheng without asking him what he was doing.
Cheng was injured during the arrest, and taken to Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam with red marks on his limbs, Chu added.
Cheng's co-defendant, Chu Po-sang, a 21-year-old Civic Passion member, was earlier acquitted of the same charge.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1845274/hong-kong-protester-who-crossed-police-barricade-sentenced
