Social News
Written by: Lin Leer
2019-12-10 13:38
Last updated: 2019-12-10 13:40Police and civilian clashes broke out after a demonstration in the Central and Western District on July 28. 44 men and women were charged with riots and divided into three cases. The case has been referred to the District Court, but today (10th) the case was re-opened by the West Kowloon Magistrates' Court. Among the three defendants, the prosecution and the defendant originally intended to start the trial next April. After the incident, the court estimated the workload and was ready to begin the trial next March. The trial is finally set to begin on March 6. It will take eight days for the prosecution to call expert witnesses on charges of possession of radio communication equipment without a license. The other two cases were postponed until February 19, pending the prosecution's submission of information to the defence. The defendants were granted bail.
The three cases handled by the court today, although the cases have been referred to the District Court, have been borrowed from the court of the West Kowloon Court. (Profile picture)
Newly-accused defendant involved in possession of radio transceiver without license
The three defendants, Tang Weixiong (38), Du Yilan (41), and a 16-year-old female defendant named Li, were also charged on July 28 this year in Des Voeux Road West near West Side Street, together with others involved in the riot. Tang and Du, who were newly married in August, were each charged with one count of possession of radio communication equipment at the last hearing, claiming that they were in Xiyuan on the same day without the approval of a proper license from the Communications Authority. There is a set of radio transceivers (brand: BAOFENG, model: UV-X9PLUS), which violates Articles 8 (1) (b) and 20 of Chapter 106 of the Communications Ordinance.
The prosecution claims that with the addition of additional evidence, the number of prosecution witnesses will increase from 11 to 35, and the video evidence will be 3 to 4 hours long. The defense will receive additional evidence within a few weeks. He said that everyone may not be summoned to court, and an expert witness will be confessed on charges of possession of radio communications equipment without a license. He stated that according to the confession of the arrested police officer, the third defendant had said that he and two other defendants had gone to the Western District procession and rally, and the defence denied this.
Officials reveal court has made preparations
The prosecution and the defendant stated that the trial could begin on April 2 next year. Guo Guan responded to the court's order to start processing related cases from March and asked if the trial could be advanced. He revealed that the court has done a lot of preparations, describing the case as not too complicated, and it will be the first trial; if the case is scheduled for trial in April, it will waste the court's arrangements. After further discussions between the prosecution and the defense, they agreed to start the trial early on March 6.
Two more cases renewed in February
The other two cases were deferred until February. In the case involving 24 defendants, the defence stated that it had learned that the prosecution had hundreds of hours of video footage, but he has not yet received it.
The 24 people were charged on July 28 this year with Des Voeux Road West between Hong Kong's West Side Street and Queen Street, along with others involved in the riots. One of the defendants, Mo Zhuohui, was further charged with one count of assaulting the police. Xu Qingjun was charged with an unlicensed possession of radio communication equipment when he was last interviewed, saying that he was in Queen Street on the same day and had a set of radio transceivers (brand: WESTON, model: WT-580PLUS), in violation of Articles 8 (1) (b) and 20 of Chapter 106 of the Communications Ordinance.
In another case involving 15 persons, all the defendants were charged in the area of Connaught Road Central and Des Voeux Road between Morrison Street and Man Wah Lane in Sheung Wan on the same day, along with others involved in the riot.
Case number: DCCC820, 871, 872/2019
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