Jimmy Lai, 6 ex-lawmakers cleared of organising march
The Court of Appeal has acquitted former media tycoon Jimmy Lai and six former lawmakers, including barristers Margaret Ng and Martin Lee, of organising a massive procession of protesters through the streets of Hong Kong Island in 2019. However, their convictions for taking part in the unauthorised march have been upheld. Two years ago the seven – who also include Lee Cheuk-yan, Leung Kwok-hung, Cyd Ho and Albert Ho – were given prison terms or suspended prison terms of up to 18 months over the procession, which followed an approved anti-police demonstration organised by the now-disbanded Civil Human Rights Front at Victoria Park on August 18, 2019.  In April 2021, District Court judge Amanda Woodcock ruled that the seven had organised the procession after prosecutors argued the defendants had led the crowd from Causeway Bay to Central, carrying a huge protest banner between them. The defendants, however, argued that the protesters were merely dispersing from the park after police failed to implement a crowd control plan. In handing down its ruling on Monday, a three-judge Court of Appeal panel noted the seven did not organise the approved rally or plan the subsequent procession that police banned. There was also no evidence that they directed the crowd behind them on the march. "All they had done was to be at the front of a column of marchers, holding a banner and some of them shouting slogans.... They were obviously there because their faces were well-known and would lend credence to their cause," the judges said. "We do not accept that without the applicants forming the banner party, it is unlikely the procession would have come into being. Nor do we see that because they agreed to head the procession and led it on the route, which had already been determined and notified to the police, without giving or signalling directions, rendered them all equally guilty of organising the procession."  In rejecting the appeals over the charge of taking part in the unauthorised procession, the judges said the evidence against the seven was overwhelming. The court also rejected appeals by four of the defendants over the prison terms they were given for that charge.  Speaking to reporters outside the High Court, Ng said she would have to look at the judgement before deciding her next step.