A Hong Kong court has sentenced a 27-year-old woman to 34 months in prison for participating in a riot at the peak of the city’s social unrest, reversing her prior acquittal .
Former law student Alice Tong received the sentence on Wednesday in District Court, Ming Pao reported .
District Court in Wan Chai. File photo: HKFP.
Tong was found guilty of rioting in mid-June following a retrial, nearly seven years after she was arrested in Wan Chai on August 31, 2019. Tong was 21 years old at the time.
Judge Edmond Lee said on Wednesday that the violence that night was severe and the rioting caused a public nuisance. Considering the defendant’s clothing and gear, Lee ruled that her participation was not minor.
Lee added that Tong was convicted during a retrial following an acquittal, meaning almost seven years has passed since the incident in 2019. He also said her conviction has cost her the opportunity to become a lawyer; therefore, the court granted a discretionary sentence reduction, sentencing her to 34 months in prison.
Protests erupted in June 2019 over a since-axed extradition bill . They escalated into sometimes violent displays of dissent against police behaviour, amid calls for democracy and anger over Beijing’s encroachment. Demonstrators demanded an independent probe into police conduct, amnesty for those arrested and a halt to the characterisation of protests as “riots.”
In August 2021, Lee acquitted Tong of rioting and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place, saying at that time that prosecutors had failed to prove she committed acts of violence or abetted the riot.
But the Department of Justice appealed her acquittal, and the Court of Appeal overturned Lee’s decision in June 2024, ordering him to oversee a retrial.
Photo: May James/HKFP.
At the time, the three appellate judges said that the circumstantial evidence of Tong’s participation in the riot was “overwhelming,” according to media outlet The Witness. In July last year, the judges rejected Tong’s application to take her case to the Court of Final Appeal.
Lee convicted Tong of rioting on June 9. She remains acquitted of possession of an offensive weapon in a public place.
Law school study halted after arrest
Before handing down the sentence, Judge Lee cited the defence’s plea in mitigation.
Judge Edmond Lee. Photo: Judiciary.
Lee noted that the defendant, who moved to Hong Kong from the mainland at the age of four, was inspired to pursue a career in law after her mother successfully claimed work injury compensation in 2013. She was convinced that the legal system could protect vulnerable groups.
In 2019, the defendant was studying at Lancaster University in the UK. During a summer trip back to Hong Kong, she was influenced by peers and participated in the riot, Lee said, citing the defence.
Following her arrest, Tong was unable to return to the UK to continue her studies, which placed her under immense pressure. During this time, her mother suffered a relapse of depression and later her father died, leading the defendant to blame herself for everything.
Although her conviction will cost her the chance to become a lawyer, she has not given up on herself, according to Tong’s plea in mitigation. She has been pursuing further studies in prison to prepare for her reintegration into society.