Hong Kong protester jailed for 33 months for role in 2019 unrest after acquittal overturned

A Hong Kong protester initially cleared of rioting at the height of the 2019 anti-government unrest has been jailed for nearly three years after he pleaded guilty following an appellate court’s decision to reverse his acquittal.

The District Court on Wednesday sentenced 29-year-old Johnny Lee Chun-ho to 33 months behind bars, more than three years after initially finding him not guilty of abetting violence during an intense confrontation between police and demonstrators at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) in Sha Tin on November 12, 2019.

Demonstrators had paralysed Tolo Highway and the nearby MTR East Rail line by hurling objects from a bridge near CUHK’s rear entrance the previous day, prompting police to later disperse protesters and cordon off the crossing.

Judge Clement Lee Hing-nin, in his original judgment in July 2021, found no evidence to suggest the defendant had deliberately remained on the scene, adding his arresting officer did not tell the whole truth in court when asked to explain what caused the defendant’s head injuries.

But the Court of Appeal overturned the acquittal earlier this year and remitted the case to the judge for reconsideration.

The appellate court highlighted “overwhelming” circumstantial evidence, including Johnny Lee’s all-black outfit and a paper slip seized from him that offered encouragement to “real Hongkongers”, to show that he had indeed taken part in the conflict.