A Hong Kong social worker was found guilty of rioting during the city's 2019 democracy protests, with the court on Tuesday rejecting her claim of being a mediator and ruling that she encouraged people to resist police.
Hong Kong pro-democracy social worker convicted over 2019 clashA Hong Kong social worker was found guilty of rioting during the city's 2019 democracy protests, with the court on Tuesday rejecting her claim of being a mediator and ruling that she encouraged people to resist police.
Following a massive protest movement in 2019, Hong Kong authorities launched a crackdown on dissent and have taken nearly 3,000 people to court over five years. More than 800 have been charged with rioting, a crime broadly interpreted by local courts to cover many of those present at scenes of violence. Jackie Chen, 48, was part of a small group of social workers who appeared on Hong Kong's tense street standoffs in 2019 carrying loudhailers, urging police to stay calm and to allow time for protesters to leave. After being arrested in August 2019, she pleaded not guilty and argued that she was trying to de-escalate clashes and did not intend to participate in riots.Deputy district judge May Chung ruled Tuesday that Chen had shouted"provocative" words that wrongly implied police had used excessive force. "Through her words and acts, expressed her support of the protesters... which bolstered their determination and confidence to resist the police," the judge wrote. The judge said Chen brought a gas mask and wore a t-shirt that read"We are social workers defending justice", which showed she had prepared for the protests. Circumstantial evidence led to the overriding conclusion that Chen intended to take part in the riot, the judge wrote.After the verdict, Chen told supporters in the public gallery to"take care". "Just because disagrees with us, that doesn't mean we did anything wrong," she told AFP before the hearing, adding that she would face the outcome with equanimity.She previously criticised the government's decision to push for a retrial, saying that younger co-defendants were kept from moving on with their lives.China on Tuesday concluded one of its biggest political events of the year with a call to"struggle unrelentingly" for the country's rise after a ...Posted 06:01 PM, 11 Mar, 2025
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