A Hong Kong social worker who urged the police to allow protesters to disperse peacefully at a demonstration last July has been sentenced to a year in jail for obstruction.

Fanling Court magistrate Don So ruled the 24-year-old Lau Ka-tung of the Reclaiming Social Work Movement had deliberately blocked an officer on July 27 last year from trying to disperse hundreds of protesters in Yuen Long. Lau, who was holding a social worker registration card at the time of the incident, is the first social worker to be jailed during the ongoing protests. His request to be released on bail pending appeal was also denied by So.

When handing down his ruling on Wednesday, So said that the police have the right to push through a crowd of protesters, and it was unavoidable that someone would be injured. He said Lau’s attempt to slow down the clearance operation would be asking the police to give up their duty.

So said Lau was among a group of other people — believed to be social workers — that had deliberately blocked the police moving for several minutes after they ignored a warning to disperse.

So added that the dispersal operation was “legal, reasonable, and proportionate” and it was the only way to handle the situation, and Lau’s action constituted obstruction.

Defence counsel Billy Li said Lau was simply trying to prevent a stampede at the time, and his goal was the same as the police by urging protesters to leave. Li argued that Lau had no prior criminal record and as the case did not involve violence, he should not be sentenced before obtaining a report from a parole officer.

Li added that Lau may have completed his sentence before even filing an appeal, and asked So to release him on bail. However, So denied the request and sent Lau to jail for a year immediately. The maximum penalty for the offence is two years.

Social welfare sector lawmaker Shiu Ka-shun slammed the judgement and accused magistrate So of using the law to suppress social workers as it strayed away from past ruling standards. Previously, So had sentenced police officers who were involved in possession and trafficking of drugs to 18 months of probation orders and fines, without any jail time.

Shiu said he rarely criticized judges but recent cases have shown that some judges were biased since the year-long anti-extradition bill protests started. He added that he and the social welfare sector would fully support Lau and his family.

Labour Party lawmaker Fernando Cheung, also a social worker, said that social workers have a reasonable role at protest scenes to assist the police in resolving conflicts. “How can social workers work with police anymore?” he said.

He said Lau’s actions did not involve violence and it was unreasonable for Lau to be jailed for a year. He added that 20 social workers have been arrested during the anti-extradition bill protests.

---------------------------------
Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app
To know more: https://bit.ly/2yMMfQE
Apple Daily mobile app latest version DOWNLOAD NOW