Hong Kong pro-CCP attackers Hu Aimin and Chow Wing-lam were charged with two counts of criminal sabotage on Falun Gong’s “truth-clarification” sites in 2021. Magistrate Frances Leung Nga-yan of the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Court ruled on April 21 that the two were found guilty. Hu Aimin was sentenced to 15 weeks imprisonment, and Chow Wing-lam, who pleaded guilty earlier, was sentenced to nine weeks in prison. Both must serve their imprisonment with immediate effect.
“Whether you have any dissatisfaction with any group or any complaints against law enforcement authorities, Hong Kong is not a place where abuse of lynching is allowed,” Leung, a magistrate of the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Court, said during her sentencing. She also said that the repeated blatant sabotage in broad daylight damaging other people’s property is a serious challenge to the rule of law, and the defendants must be sentenced to immediate imprisonment to send out a proper signal—Hong Kong is a place where rule of law is well founded, and this kind of behavior will not be tolerated.
It was not the first time that Hu, who was sentenced to 15 months in prison, committed a crime. In December 2020, he committed up to five counts of repeated damage to Falun Gong practitioners’ “truth-clarifying” booth. On Dec. 1, 2022, he was sentenced to two weeks in prison, suspended for 30 months. The magistrate at the time, Li Chi-ho, once said that the defendant’s “patriotism deserves respect and praise.” During the trial of the case, member of the pro-CCP Federation of Trade Unions Tang Ka-piu, former Secretary for Home Affairs David Lan Hong-tsung, pro-CCP Internet celebrity Alex Yeung Koon-wah, and others formed a large contingent of pro-CCP followers beating drums and clamor outside the court in support of Hu with slogan “patriotism is no guilt.”
The CCP has always mingled under one roof the concepts of “party” and “country” toward all Chinese people, resulting in those who have been brainwashed being used to attack the groups that the CCP does not like.
Hu, himself an immigrant to Hong Kong from mainland China, harbours hatred towards Falun Gong. He was praised as a “patriotic hero” by some local pro-CCP forces, which made him even more unscrupulous in behavior.
In the week before and after April 3, 2021, at least six Falun Gong “truth-clarifications” sites in Hong Kong were sabotaged more than ten times. The police arrested eight people later, four of whom pleaded guilty to the crime of “criminal damage” earlier and were sentenced to eight months in prison; one was not charged; the remaining three are the three defendants in this case. In addition to Hu Aimin and Chow Wing-lam, another defendant, Cheuk Chun-sun, was suspected by the police of being the man in white who destroyed the street booth. But the court found that the evidence was insufficient, and he was acquitted on April 4.
Hu argued during the video interrogation with the police that he happened to pass by to take pictures and did not know the persons who destroyed the street booths. Magistrate Leung expressed her disbelief. She pointed out that although Hu did not damage the items by himself and only took pictures with his mobile phone, he appeared at the scene of both the Wong Tai Sin and Mong Kok crime sites within less than an hour and had dinner with the two people who committed the offences. He also sent a message with his mobile phone claiming, “Tomorrow we will sabotage all Falun Gong sites in Hong Kong.” Leung can only infer that they are accomplices, only serving dissimilar roles.
The recorded video of the crime scene played by the court showed that two men in black and white shirts successively cut up the exhibits of Falun Gong practitioners in Wong Tai Sin and Mong Kok with cutters and sprayed them with paint. A man in a checkered shirt filmed the whole progress. Nearby CCTV footage also showed that the three left along Nathan Road one after another and then entered a restaurant in Jordan to have meal together.
Magistrate Leung pointed out that the evidence presented by the prosecution shows that the man in black (Chow Wing-lam) and the man in white who destroyed the exhibits in Wong Tai Sin and Mong Kok have unique characteristics and can be identified as the same two people, while Hu Aimin’s coat has a fish-shaped pattern that is “recognizable just at a glance.” All evidence shows, without any doubt, the three are from the same group.
In addition, the police also seized Hu’s mobile phone and found the video of the crime scene he had recorded. A screenshot of Hu’s WeChat account also shows that he sent a message the night before the incident, saying, “Tomorrow go to sabotage all Falun Gong sites in Hong Kong. I want somebody to take that up, do you support it?” He also expressed his dissatisfaction with the law enforcement agencies for not dismantling the Falun Gong street booths during his videotaped session with the police.
Magistrate Leung ruled that each of the two charges was to be given nine weeks in prison. However, considering the two crimes were committed at the same time, three of those weeks will be executed concurrently. In that case, Hu was sentenced to 15 weeks of immediate imprisonment. Chow Wing-lam, the defendant who pleaded guilty earlier, had one-third of his prison term reduced. With each charge receiving 6 weeks in prison, of which three weeks are executed concurrently, he needs to serve a total of nine weeks in prison. Magistrate Leung also ordered each of Hu and Chow to pay the victim HK$2,300 (US$290) compensation, which must be delivered to the court within four months.
Nine Counts of Criminal Records Since Coming to Hong Kong from the Mainland
The lawyer representing Hu Aimin said during his plea for leniency that Hu was from mainland China. His wife passed away in 2015, and he now lives with his 15-year-old daughter in a public housing estate in Ngau Tau Kok, receiving HK$6,000 (US$764) monthly Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) as his main financial support. He has been convicted nine times before, but none of the previous cases included convictions for criminal damage. However, the magistrate pointed out that one of Hu’s convictions in 2008 was ordinary assault, which was a violent criminal case like this one.Chow Wing-lam, who pleaded guilty earlier, pleaded for leniency in person, saying that he “may not have thought clearly” during the crime and had already pleaded guilty earlier. He also said that he is engaged in renovation work and will complete the project by the end of the year, hoping that the court will give him a lighter sentence. After being sentenced, he immediately applied for bail for another three weeks, but this was rejected.
Since the CCP persecuted Falun Gong in 1999, Falun Gong practitioners in Hong Kong have peacefully protested the persecution on the streets, but they have been harassed and threatened with violence by local pro-CCP organizations repeatedly for a long time. In September 2019, Ms. Liu, a Falun Gong practitioner, after holding a meeting with the police to discuss the “10.1” parade arrangement, was beaten by some a mob, resulting in cuts to her head. Ou Hin-jam, a 22-year-old man in charge of “watching out” during the incident, was charged with “wounding with intent” in 2022 and sentenced to 2 years and 9 months in prison.
Growth in Universal Popularity Led to Brutal Persecution by the CCP
Falun Gong was publicly introduced by its founder, Mr. Li Hongzhi, in 1992. It preaches five sets of exercises and guides practitioners to improve their morality with the principles of “Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance.” At that time, the CCP’s official media estimated that the number of Falun Gong practitioners in 1999 was about 70 million to 100 million.
However, former CCP leader Jiang Zemin launched a political campaign to persecute Falun Gong in 1999, including fabricating the “Tiananmen Self-immolation” case in 2001 to slander Falun Gong. The crime against humanity of the CCP’s organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners has also been exposed internationally. United Nations human rights experts and parliaments of many countries have issued statements calling for investigations. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the “ Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act of 2023” on March 27 this year, stating that the United States should hold accountable members of the CCP involved in such live organ harvesting activities.
Falun Gong practitioners have been pursuing a global appeal for an end to the CCP’s persecution. It has also been spreading its sacred preaches around the world and has won more than 3,000 awards. Mr. Li Hongzhi’s main writing, “Zhuan Falun” has been translated into more than forty languages. On the 30th anniversary of the spread of Falun Gong on May 13, 2022, more than a thousand political figures from all over the world sent awards and congratulatory emails, praising Mr. Li Hongzhi and Falun Gong for their contributions to society.
Case No.: KCCC1122/2022
