Teenager Acquitted Of Blocking Roads

A secondary school student accused of blocking roads near the Sai Wan Ho MTR station last November during the anti-government protests has been acquitted by the Eastern Court.

In handing down the judgement on Tuesday in the case of 19-year-old Tang Cho-fung, magistrate Peony Wong said she did not accept the testimony given by a police officer, calling it “weird and contradictory”.

She said the officer provided conflicting accounts of the event, such as the number of people gathered at the scene at the time.

The magistrate added that the teenager was carrying a black backpack then, but the officer never mentioned that in his written statement and only brought it up when he testified in court.

While she noted that Tang failed to be completely forthcoming when he argued his case in court, she decided to clear him of a charge of obstruction of public place because the officer was simply unable to confirm that he was the one blocking roads on the day of a city-wide strike last November.