Pair Jailed For Attack At Chow Tsz-lok Commemoration

A man and a woman have been jailed for three years and eight months each in connection with the violence that erupted in an event marking the death of university student Chow Tsz-lok during the anti-government protests last year.

Fifty-nine-year-old taxi driver Chan Ming-kwai and 29-year-old Wong Yam-choi, who's unemployed, earlier pleaded guilty to charges of rioting and wounding with intent.

The District Court heard that a man came under attack by a group of people who gathered in Tseung Kwan O on the night of November 9, 2019, a day after the University of Science and Technology student died in hospital. Chow had been found seriously injured in a carpark during a protest earlier that month.

The court also heard that the man had complained to the police about the noise made by the demonstrators, and he was attacked by the two defendants and others.

In sentencing, District Court judge Amanda Woodcock made it clear that while freedom of speech and freedom of assembly are people's constitutional rights, they are not absolute.

The judge also said violent attacks like these should not be tolerated by society, and a deterrent sentence is needed.

Meanwhile, an inquest into Chow's death is currently under way amid lingering questions about the case.