HONG KONG (Reuters) – A Hong Kong court on Thursday sentenced veteran democrat Lam Cheuk-ting and six other men to jail terms of several years for rioting after being attacked by a white-shirted mob in the summer of 2019 as pro-democracy protests raged.
On the night of July 21, 2019, more than 100 white-shirted men stormed the Yuen Long MTR station in the China-ruled city’s northwest, attacking passers-by and journalists with clubs and sticks.
Twelve of the white-shirted assailants were convicted for rioting and conspiring to wound with intent.
But Lam, 47, a long-standing member of the Democratic Party, and six others were also arrested and charged with rioting and helping instigate the violence.
Lam and the other defendants had argued during mitigation that they had acted in self-defence, and had tried to protect others who came under attack.
But district court judge Stanley Chan rejected arguments of self-defence.
(Reporting by James Pomfret and Jessie Pang; Editing by Michael Perry)
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