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At about 4 p.m. on 29 September 2019, around 500 protesters occupied the eastbound and westbound lanes of Harcourt Road in the Admiralty area, threw miscellaneous items and petrol bombs at the Government Headquarters, and set fire to and damaged the water-filled barriers. After multiple ineffective warnings by the police, at about 4:48 p.m. they rushed out from various exits to disperse the crowd and successively arrested 11 defendants at points A, B and C. The court, based on CCTV footage and testimonies from 17 police officers and two defendants, confirmed that all defendants were dressed in black, wearing helmets and face masks, carrying umbrellas, gloves and other equipment, and were part of the rioting crowd, and therefore found them guilty.
According to the precedents of the Court of Final Appeal and the Court of Appeal, rioting is a participatory offence. The prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant was aware of and participated in an unlawful assembly or riot. A conviction can be based on mere presence at the scene accompanied by encouragement or assistance, without the need to have directly committed destructive acts.
All defendants were present at a highly mobile riot scene that had been ongoing for over twenty minutes, dressed in black and carrying protective gear and protest materials; they remained on site after warnings and acted in concert with others, demonstrating their deliberate participation in and promotion of the riot.
The judge held that the riot extended to points A, B and C, and that without exception the defendants were aware of the violence at the scene and participated by assisting or encouraging; accordingly, they should be convicted under the law.
All 11 defendants were convicted of rioting. (Translated from Chinese to English by AI)
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判刑理由書撮要(由AI生成)
以下撮要以AI生成及／或翻譯，內容以原來的判刑理由書為準。
The judgment stated that at around 16:00 on 29 September 2019, about 500 protesters assembled outside the Admiralty Government Headquarters, occupying the east- and westbound lanes of Harcourt Road, threw debris and petrol bombs at the Government Headquarters, set fires and damaged water barricades. Despite multiple police warnings, the protest continued for over twenty minutes until the police suddenly rushed out to disperse the crowd and arrested 11 defendants at different exits of the Government Headquarters, convicting them of the offence of riot.
According to the general sentencing principles for the offence of riot, based on the scale of the riot, the number of participants mobilised, the use of weapons and the degree of damage caused, the starting point should be 4 to 5 years’ imprisonment, adjustable according to the defendants’ roles and backgrounds.
In this case, the riot was large-scale, targeted the Government Headquarters, involved the use of petrol bombs and arson, was highly threatening and lasted over 20 minutes. However, none of the defendants were leaders or instigators, and there were no serious injuries or fatalities. Their specific participation was limited to assisting and encouraging. The defence requested consideration of no prior convictions, voluntary guilty pleas, clear remorse, youth or a good background in a reformatory, so a reduction from the 4-year baseline is justified.
I consider that sentencing must have a deterrent effect. General participants should receive appropriate punishment while individual circumstances are taken into account. For defendants under 21, a reformatory disposition is preferable to enable them to reform through rehabilitative education.
Except for the fourth and eighth defendants, who were aged only 18 and 16 at the time of the offence and were sentenced to a reformatory, the remaining nine defendants were each sentenced to 3 years and 6 months’ imprisonment. (Translated from Chinese to English by AI)
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