Pro-govt Camp Blasts 'lenient' Occupy Punishments

Pro-Beijing lawmakers on Wednesday said the sentencing of eight pro-democracy figures over the 2014 Occupy protests was too lenient, as debate began on whether the camp should seek to strip one of those convicted of his Legco seat.

Junius Ho, who had led a campaign against Benny Tai calling for him to be dismissed from his University of Hong Kong post, said he believed all of the activists should have been jailed for at least two years.

"I think the judge has been very kind-hearted," he said.

DAB chairwoman Starry Lee urged Justice Secretary Theresa Cheng to consider the impact of the punishment on organisers of future disobedience movements.

Lee said her party will study the judgement and consider the numerical factors before thinking of taking any actions against the two lawmakers who are among the nine found guilty.

Business and Professionals Alliance lawmaker Priscilla Leung, who's also a barrister, also said the sentences seemed to be on the light side. She said this was because the District Court had considered the defendants' backgrounds when handing down suspended jail terms or community service orders to four of them.

Leung said nevertheless, people who organised or took part in the Occupy Movement should take the sentences as a warning.

Elizabeth Quat of the DAB said she was worried that the "lenient" sentences may give the impression that people won't need to go to jail even when they break the law.

She said her camp will seriously discuss whether to kick-start the process to disqualify lawmaker Shiu Ka-chun, who was jailed for eight months. But Quat admitted that the camp doesn't have the two-thirds majority in Legco required to remove Shiu.

On social media, DAB lawmaker Ann Chiang said the convicted defendants "got what they deserved".

She also wished pro-democracy legislator Tanya Chan a speedy recovery from a recently diagnosed brain tumour, with the news of Chan's condition prompting the court to adjourn sentencing on her until a later date.

Chiang's party colleague, Steven Ho from the agriculture and fisheries sector, was not as compassionate. He wrote on his Facebook page that "when it's time to pay the bill, everyone's terminally ill."

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