Tough sentence aims to deter Hong Kong radicals

The harsh punishment for the first person convicted over the riot in Mong Kok, Hong Kong, in February that injured more than 700 people, including over 90 police officers, could help deter violent demonstrations, Hong Kong-based media quoted local legal experts as saying on Friday.



A magistrates' court in Hong Kong on Thursday sentenced Chan Pak-yeung, 31, an active member and online radio presenter for the Hong Kong-based political group Civic Passion, to nine months in prison, the AFP reported.



The court ruled that Chan threw bottles and struggled violently to resist arrest, prompting others to follow his lead and throw other objects such as rubbish bin lids at the officers handling him, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported Thursday.



The ruling has made Chan the first to be convicted over the violent clashes on Lunar New Year night, said the newspaper.



Some 300 radicals attacked police officers and reporters in the early morning on February 9, provoking a large-scale riot and causing dozens of injuries. A total of 75 were arrested and 48 were charged, the Xinhua News Agency reported on March 2.



Though Chan's punishment is quite harsh, the sentence could warn radical demonstrators to "think clearly" before they attempt to make any violent moves, Tony Kan, a Hong Kong-based lawyer and also a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, was quoted as saying by the Hong Kong-based newspaper Ta Kung Pao.



Previous rulings on several people involved in illegal "Occupy" movements, such as suspended sentences and community service orders, have not served as a sufficient deterrent, sending the wrong message that radical or destructive behavior will escape the clutches of the law, said Kan.



Cheung Kwok-kwan, another Hong Kong-based lawyer and vice-chairman of DAB, a major pro-establishment party in Hong Kong, added that the ruling has sent a clear message to the public that the court will not tolerate anyone attacking law enforcement officials and breaking the law, the Ta Kung Pao reported.





