Hong Kong actor among 7 who lose appeals over 2019 storming of legislature

A Hong Kong actor is among seven people who have lost their appeals in a rioting case over the storming of the city’s legislature in 2019, at the height of pro-democracy protests and unrest that year.

Gregory Wong in 2023. File photo: Lea Mok/HKFP.

Actor Gregory Wong appealed against his conviction and six-year-and-two-month jail term for rioting on July 1, 2019, when demonstrators stormed the Legislative Council (LegCo) chamber to protest a since-axed extradition bill.

In dismissing Wong’s appeal against his conviction on Wednesday, three Court of Appeal judges ruled that he intended to participate in the riot by entering the chamber and communicating with protesters.

“Knowing that the [LegCo] complex was occupied, [Wong] still decided to dress in black… and enter the chamber. When inside, he did not just pass equipment to journalists, but also had physical interactions with protesters, including tapping and putting his arm around their shoulders,” Judges Derek Pang, Judianna Barnes, and Keith Yeung wrote in a Chinese-language judgment.

The High Court. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

“He was not an innocent passer-by who appeared in the wrong place at the wrong time. He knew what was going on, but he decided to enter the chamber, stay there, and carry out the acts while being filmed.”

The judges also rejected his appeal against his jail term, saying that the trial judge did not impose an excessive penalty.

The appellate court also dismissed the appeals lodged by six others, including children’s rights activist and former student leader Althea Suen.

Five of them, including Suen, who pleaded guilty, were appealing against their sentences of up to six years and 10 months in jail. One protester, Amy Pat, who was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison, challenged both her conviction and sentence.

The storming of LegCo marked a sharp escalation in the 2019 protests and unrest, triggered by a bill that would have allowed the extradition of criminal suspects to mainland China.

Protesters storm the legislative complex on July 1, 2019. File Photo: May James.

The protests escalated into sometimes violent displays of dissent against police behaviour, amid calls for democracy. Demonstrators demanded an independent probe into police conduct, amnesty for those arrested and a halt to the characterisation of protests as “riots.”

A total of 12 people were convicted and jailed in the LegCo rioting case. Two student reporters were charged but acquitted of rioting. Among the convicted were pro-democracy activists Owen Chow and Ventus Lau, who did not lodge appeals in the case.

Chow and Lau were also convicted and jailed for subversion in a national security case involving 47 opposition figures. That case revolved around an unofficial primary election in July 2020 that authorities deemed a subversive plot.

In that case, Lau was sentenced to four years and five months, while Chow was jailed for seven years and nine months.