High Court Revokes Bail For Benny Tai In Occupy Case

The High Court on Thursday revoked bail previously granted to former University of Hong Kong legal scholar Benny Tai, as it reserved judgement on whether he and other activists could lodge an appeal in a case over their roles in the 2014 Occupy protests.

The Occupy movement co-founder was given a 16-month jail sentence in 2019 when he was convicted of conspiracy and incitement to commit public nuisance.

Tai had served about four months when he was granted bail, pending the appeal.

At a hearing at the High Court, Tai’s lawyer argued that the sentence should reflect the peaceful nature of the civil disobedience campaign, noting that the 16-month term is longer than some of those given to violent protesters.

The lawyer also said the time Tai had already served should be sufficient.

Tai's lawyer added that his client had planned the demonstration to take place on Chater Road on a weekend in 2014 to minimise the inconvenience caused to others.

But the prosecution said the court should consider handing down a stiffer sentence if it finds the current punishment too lenient, saying Tai took hostage of the public’s well-being under “the veneer of love and peace”.

The prosecution also said Tai sent a wrong and dangerous message that people could take the law into their own hands by inviting huge numbers of people to openly breach the law through the occupation of the roads.

It added that Tai had not shown remorse.

The court said it will announce at a later date whether it will grant leave to the appeal application by nine people, among them Tai and two other Occupy Central co-founders, sociology scholar Chan Kin-man and Reverend Chu Yiu-ming.

Tai and Raphael Wong from the League of Social Democrats are challenging both their convictions and sentences.