Three Convicted Over Airport Riot, Reporter Assault

The District Court on Wednesday convicted three people of rioting and assaulting a mainland journalist during an anti-government protest at the airport in August 2019, but acquitted a fourth defendant in the case.

Amy Pat, Lai Yun-long and Ho Ka-lok, all in their 20s, were found guilty of rioting and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Pat was also found guilty of one additional charge of false imprisonment for tying up reporter Fu Guohao with cables.

Lai had also previously pleaded guilty to one count of common assault and one of obstructing an ambulanceman, while Ho had pleaded guilty to possessing offensive weapons, including a folding knife, laser pens and an extendable baton.

Delivering his verdict, Judge Clement Lee said surveillance footage showed the trio were among those who assaulted the victim. He said the crowd's intention was to breach the peace and to take part in a riot.

But Lee cleared another defendant, Wong Yat-ho, of charges of unlawful assembly and false imprisonment, ruling that the evidence was not sufficient to prove that Wong was one of the perpetrators.

Lee also encouraged people to read his 74-page judgement to understand more about the ruling, saying “otherwise more people may attack the judges.”

In the past year, individual judges and magistrates handling cases relating to the social unrest that began in June 2019 have been subjected to criticism from both sides of the political spectrum, facing accusations of bias.