A social worker who tried to mediate during the 2019 protests in Hong Kong is convicted of rioting

HONG KONG (AP) — A societal idiosyncratic who tried to mediate during the tallness of the 2019 anti-government protests successful Hong Kong was convicted of rioting Tuesday successful the latest lawsuit that signaled the pugnacious stance the authorities person taken toward governmental cases.

Jackie Chen was portion of a radical of societal workers who often carried a loudspeaker seeking to mediate betwixt constabulary and protesters during the societal unrest. She was freed astatine her archetypal proceedings successful September 2020, but the caput of justness appealed and a tribunal ordered a retrial by different judge.

In the retrial, the prosecution accused Chen, who utilized a loudspeaker to inquire constabulary officers to calm down and not to usage their guns to occurrence non-lethal bullets, of participating successful a riot during a protestation successful August 2019. Chen pleaded not guilty.

Judge May Chung wrote successful her verdict that Chen had continuously shouted unfounded accusations against the constabulary and suggested the officers' actions progressive the usage of excessive unit oregon were excessively rapid. Chen had utilized her societal idiosyncratic role, claiming to beryllium “safeguarding justice," to backmost the protesters, the justice said.

Chung ruled that the lone tenable inference was that Chen intended to enactment successful the riot.

“Through the aforementioned means to stitchery unneurotic with different rioters, (she) thereby encouraged different rioters to perpetrate acts that disturb societal peace,” she wrote.

Ahead of the verdict hearing, Chen took radical photos with her supporters and hugged immoderate of them extracurricular of the territory tribunal building. Chen told reporters that she felt peaceful due to the fact that she had 5 years to hole for this. Regardless of the outcome, she has nary regrets, she said.

“I anticipation each the radical I cognize — they volition unrecorded healthy, they volition unrecorded blessed due to the fact that we inactive person our roadworthy to locomotion along,” she said.

After the justice announced the decision, she shouted that she would beryllium OK to her supporters sitting successful the nationalist gallery.

Chen is expected to beryllium sentenced successful April. The maximum condemnation for rioting successful Hong Kong is 10 years, but the sentences astatine the territory tribunal are capped astatine 7 years.

Chen's lawsuit drew attraction due to the fact that of her mild relation successful the 2019 movement, which was the biggest situation to the Hong Kong authorities since the erstwhile British colony returned to Chinese regularisation successful 1997.

The 2019 protests were sparked by a projected extradition instrumentality that would person allowed transgression suspects successful Hong Kong to beryllium sent to the mainland for trial. The authorities withdrew the bill, but the protesters widened their demands to see nonstop elections for the city’s leaders and constabulary accountability.

In response, Beijing imposed a nationalist information instrumentality to quell the unrest. Under the law, galore of the city's starring activists were prosecuted oregon convicted. Hong Kong authorities insists the instrumentality has restored the city's stability.