On June 20, The Hong Kong High Court dismissed Hu Aimin’s appeal against his conviction for vandalizing Falun Gong booths. Mr. Hu had been charged for damaging various Falun Gong booths in Hong Kong on five occasions in 2020 and was sentenced to two weeks imprisonment, suspended for 30 months.
The Falun Gong practitioners whose property was damaged by Mr. Hu hoped that he would not commit any more acts instigated by the CCP.
Deputy Judge Yiu Fun-chi of the Court of First Instance of the High Court upheld the lower court’s ruling. He said Mr. Hu had no reasonable excuse for destroying the property of others. Mr. Hu argued that the Falun Gong practitioners’ exhibits “violated the national security law” and that he should “enforce the law on his own.”
Judge Yiu stated that law enforcement is the responsibility of the police and other law enforcement agencies and that the law does not allow vigilantism. He also upheld the lower court’s decision not to call three expert witnesses, saying the decision was not unreasonable.
The crimes took place in December 2020. In five separate incidents on Dec. 13, 19, and 20, Mr. Hu destroyed Falun Gong practitioners’ banners, display boards, computer racks, and other items in Mong Kok, Wong Tai Sin, and Tsim Sha Tsui, causing damage totaling approximately HK$15,000 (US$2,000). He was arrested on the 24th of the same month. In December 2002, Magistrate Li Chi-ho of the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court found Mr. Hu guilty of five counts of “criminal damage” and sentenced him to two weeks’ imprisonment, suspended for 30 months.
When the case was last heard at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts, the prosecutor played a video clip in court showing that on Dec. 20, Mr. Hu and his accomplices spray-painted a display board at Soy Street in Mong Kok. When Ms. Shi, a 70-year-old Falun Gong practitioner, tried to stop them, she was pushed to the ground by Mr. Hu. On the same day, Mr. Hu went to the Star Ferry Pier in Tsim Sha Tsui and threw the display board belonging to Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Chan into the sea and smashed her computer rack.
On April 3, 2021, Mr. Hu and two of his accomplices successively destroyed Falun Gong booths in Wong Tai Sin and Mong Kok. He was found guilty on two counts of “criminal damage” and was sentenced to 15 weeks imprisonment with immediate effect. Co-defendant Zhou Yonglin received a reduced sentence after pleading guilty and was sentenced to nine weeks in prison. Each of them must also pay compensation of HK$2,300 (US$295) to the victim. Mr. Hu appealed the conviction and sentence. After hearing his submissions, Judge Yiu adjourned the case to July 25 for his verdict.
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