{"id":118935,"date":"2021-07-29T05:55:32","date_gmt":"2021-07-29T05:55:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=118935"},"modified":"2021-07-29T05:55:32","modified_gmt":"2021-07-29T05:55:32","slug":"at-pre-sentencing-hearing-for-hk-national-security-case-judges-hear-defendant-made-stupid-mistake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/at-pre-sentencing-hearing-for-hk-national-security-case-judges-hear-defendant-made-stupid-mistake\/","title":{"rendered":"At pre-sentencing hearing for HK national security case, judges hear defendant made 'stupid' mistake"},"content":{"rendered":"
HONG KONG (Reuters) – The defence lawyer for the first person charged under Hong Kong\u2019s national security law argued on Thursday at a final mitigation session before sentencing that his client was a \u201cdecent young man\u201d who did something very stupid.<\/p> Tong Ying-kit, 24, could be sentenced on Friday to several years to life imprisonment after being found guilty by a panel of three judges in the High Court for \u201cterrorist activities\u201d and \u201cinciting secession\u201d in a watershed ruling with long-term implications for the city\u2019s judicial landscape.<\/p>\n Former waiter Tong, who lives with his father and younger sister in a public housing estate, was accused of driving his motorcycle into three riot police last year while carrying a flag with the protest slogan \u201cLiberate Hong Kong. Revolution of our times.\u201d<\/p>\n Judges Esther Toh, Anthea Pang and Wilson Chan – picked by city leader Carrie Lam to hear national security cases – ruled on Tuesday that this slogan was \u201ccapable of inciting others to commit secession\u201d.<\/p>\n Clive Grossman, who was representing Tong, submitted that any incitement was only of a \u201cminor nature\u201d and none of the police officers were seriously injured, warranting a more lenient sentence.<\/p>\n He added that although Tong had ridden his motorbike recklessly that day, he was not engaging in a \u201cdeliberate attack to try to kill or injure the policemen\u201d that his motorbike hit.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s learnt a big lesson in prison\u2026 his life has been so badly affected. He\u2019s essentially a decent young man who did something very stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n Grossman added that Tong had been supporting his father and sister financially, and that his grandmother, who has cancer, hoped to give him \u201cone last hug\u201d.<\/p>\n The prosecution lawyer, Ivan Cheung, submitted to the court a mainland Chinese legal textbook carrying commentaries on Chinese criminal law as a reference for the judges when considering a minimum sentence.<\/p>\n But justice Esther Toh told the court that such material is \u201cnot in any way binding\u201d given established sentencing principles under Hong Kong\u2019s Common Law and the national security law.<\/p>\n Cheung told reporters outside the court that the prosecution had \u201cnot consulted with any Chinese officials\u201d in making their submission on proposed sentences for Tong.<\/p>\n Cheung declined to name the textbook but said it was similar to the mainland Chinese version of Hong Kong\u2019s main reference book for criminal law, \u201cArchbold Hong Kong\u201d.<\/p>\n