Suspended Jail Term For Man In Blank Ballots Call

A man was on Wednesday handed a suspended prison sentence after admitting to making online calls for people to cast invalid votes in last year's Legislative Council polls.

Victor Chou, 57, who works in the garment industry, had earlier pleaded guilty at West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts to publishing two social media appeals during the election period, and sharing them on several pages which involved at least 150,000 viewers.

Chou was arrested in January this year, and was charged with three counts of “engaging in illegal conduct to incite another person not to vote, or to cast an invalid vote, by activity in public during the election period", but the prosecution later dropped one of the charges against them.

In mitigation, the defence said Chou was willing to bear legal responsibilities, adding that he was afraid of losing his job if he ended up behind bars.

Magistrate Cheng Lim-chi said the offences were election-related and “serious in nature".

After taking into account the defendant's background and guilty plea, the magistrate sentenced Chou to two months in jail, suspended for two years.

Chou's sentencing came two weeks after two people convicted of inciting others to cast blank ballots in elections were given suspended jail terms.