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The judgment states that Defendant 1 to Defendant 4 pleaded guilty to incitement to knowingly take part in an unauthorized assembly following a press conference on 30 September 2019, and that all ten Defendants subsequently pleaded guilty to organizing and, in the case of Defendants 7 and 10, participating in an unauthorized public procession from Causeway Bay to Central on 1 October 2019 despite a police prohibition upheld on appeal; the procession involved chanting political slogans, blocking roads, vandalism and violence along its route, and all Defendants admitted full particulars of their offences.
The judge applied a deterrent and punitive approach, imposing immediate custodial sentences under precedents addressing unlawful assembly and incitement (Secretary for Justice v Wong Chi Fung; Chung Ka Ho; Poon Yung Wai) and recognising the inherent risk of large gatherings to public order and violence, while holding that freedom of assembly is not absolute.
Sentences reflected the Defendants’ conscious decision to defy a lawful prohibition and incite large numbers to an unauthorised assembly with foreseeable risk of disorder and violence, minimal weight given to mitigation or peaceful intent, repeat offending, and the need to protect public order through punishment and general deterrence.
The judge opined that the fundamental right of assembly is subject to legal restrictions, that large unpermitted gatherings carry real dangers of violence, that claims of civil disobedience without genuinely non-violent conduct lack mitigating force, and that repeat breaches during a period of serious social unrest warrant firm condemnation.
Defendants 1–4 are each sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment to run concurrently; Defendants 5–8 are each sentenced to 14 months’ imprisonment; Defendants 9 and 10 are each sentenced to 14 months’ imprisonment, suspended for 24 months.
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