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Tsang Chi-kin was sentenced to 40 months for rioting, and 7
months for allegedly assaulting a policeman with a white stick
on October 1, 2019, when hundreds of thousands took to the
streets as part of protracted anti-China, pro-democracy
protests, sparking a crisis for Beijing's Communist leaders.
Tsang was also sentenced to 11 months and two weeks for
perverting the course of justice with three other people.
Deputy District Judge Ada Yim gave Tsang more than a one third
deduction of his sentence after an expression of remorse, and
for actively assisting the police investigation.
The 22-year-old had emerged from obscurity to become one of the
city's most high profile protesters. His plight was closely
followed after he was shot, and he later went into hiding for
two years after a failed bid to seek asylum in the city's U.S.
consulate.
Tsang, who was 18 at the time, pleaded guilty to all charges and
wrote in a letter that he suffered from depression and health
problems from the gun injury, but Yim said these were not
mitigating factors.
She said a deterrent sentence was needed as Tsang had almost
succeeded in absconding.
Two other co-defendants were jailed for up to 20 months, and a
third sent to a training centre for youths.
Tsang told reporters that being rejected for asylum by the U.S.
had plunged him from "heaven to hell" prompting him to go into
hiding.
After evading the police for nearly two years by shuttling
between safe houses, Tsang and several others were caught on a
taxi heading to a pier where they planned to board a speedboat
to Taiwan.
Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in 2020,
drawing criticism from some Western governments including the
U.S. who say it is a tool to crack down on dissent and the
democratic opposition.
China, however, says the security law has restored stability in
the global financial hub.
(Reporting by Jessie Pang; Editing by James Pomfret and Raju
Gopalakrishnan)
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