Hong Kong student leaders who admitted incitement to violence after near-fatal stabbing of police officer to be sentenced in October

Four former student leaders from the University of Hong Kong have been remanded in custody for sentence next month for incitement to violence through a resolution that praised a near-fatal knife attack on a police officer two years ago.

They were held responsible for a motion passed in a 2021 student union council meeting that expressed appreciation for the “sacrifice” of 50-year-old Leung Kin-fai, who stabbed a constable then committed suicide on July 1 that year.

Judge Adriana Noelle Tse Ching said the quartet had abused their positions in the student body to commit a serious offence that went beyond just endorsement of violence.

She acknowledged the four had voluntarily retracted the official statement, but added the move was untimely because it only came after an “international public outcry”, which weakened the force of defence counsel’s submissions.

“The withdrawal is not a panacea and [the effect it has on mitigation] depends on the circumstances,” she said. “To err is human, but not everybody goes to commit a serious offence.”

The four in the dock were former student union president Charles Kwok Wing-ho, 22; student union council chairman Kinson Cheung King-sang, 21; residential hall representative Chris Todorovski Shing-hang, 22; and arts association representative Anthony Yung Chung-hei, 21.

They earlier admitted a joint charge of incitement to wound with intent, in lieu of advocating terrorism, which carries a maximum jail sentence of 10 years and a minimum of five years for serious transgressions under the Beijing-imposed national security law.

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Lawyers on Wednesday tried to convince the judge to cut their clients’ sentences as far as possible, based on their guilty pleas.

But Tse said they did not deserve reduction by more than a quarter as they had failed to admit their guilt at the earliest opportunity.

Pang said Cheung, who is studying for a double degree in government and law, did not shy away from his responsibility for the offence and was sincerely remorseful.

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The lawyer also submitted letters by his mentors, including the dean of HKU’s law faculty, Professor Fu Hualing.

“He is the author of his own misfortune … He has been punished and no doubt will be further punished,” Pang said.

But Tse said that point carried no weight in mitigation.

She used the analogy of a burglar who fell from a height during an attempted break-in and said such a defendant could not ask for a court’s leniency just because he had suffered as a result of his criminality.

The judge also questioned the sincerity of Cheung’s remorse and pointed out that he was not at the event where the resolution’s withdrawal was announced.

She also criticised the former council chairman for pointing the finger at his fellow students during police interviews in what she said appeared to be a bid to distance himself from the offence.

The maximum sentence that can be imposed for the offence in the District Court is seven years.

The court is expected to pass sentence on October 30.