6 Jun 2023法庭線#6565
反修例案檢控延誤 過去一年至少18案獲法庭接納及減刑 逾半案發逾30月後起訴
Nearly four years after the anti-extradition bill movement began, about 3,000 people have been prosecuted. The Witness reviewed cases concluded over the past year in which defendants were convicted and found at least 20 cases, involving 28 defendants, in which the defence or magistrates mentioned prosecution delays during the trials. The courts accepted the delays in 18 of those cases, with defendants receiving sentence reductions of between two weeks and nine months, or suspended sentences. The other two cases were not accepted.
The charges in the 18 cases included criminal damage, assaulting police and unlawful assembly. Between 16 and 35 months elapsed from the incidents to the defendants’ first court appearances. Some were prosecuted after being told by police that they would not be prosecuted, while others were arrested again after being released. Cheng Kam-mun, a former member of Civic Passion involved in the case concerning people escaping from the Polytechnic University, was charged 16 months after the incident and was subsequently additionally charged with rioting during the trial.
Some magistrates said that, without the delays, the defendants would already have completed their sentences, and that the delays hindered rehabilitation, were unfair to the defendants and placed enormous pressure on the defendants and their families. Other magistrates held that there had been no prosecution delay, or said they did not consider the delay to constitute “dragging out” the case to the extent that a sentence reduction was necessary.
Nearly 7,300 people remain unprosecuted in connection with the anti-extradition bill movement. More people continued to be charged this year, in cases involving the 6.12 Admiralty riot and assaults on police at Mong Kok and Prince Edward stations on 8.31. Responding in May to the progress of the prosecutions, Chief Executive John Lee said that police handled cases according to the evidence and circumstances, and that “setting a so-called timetable without considering any evidence is impractical and may not accord with the spirit of the rule of law.”
反修例運動爆發至今近 4 年，約 3,000 人被檢控。《法庭線》翻查過去一年審結、被告罪成的案件，發現至少有 20 宗（涉 28 名被告），辯方或裁判官在審訊中曾提及控方檢控延誤，當中 18 宗獲法庭接納，被告獲減刑 2 周至 9 個月，或判緩刑。其餘兩宗則不獲接納。
該 18 宗案件，控罪包括刑事損壞、襲警及非法集結等，案發至被告首提堂相隔 16 至 35 個月。有人曾獲警方告知不起訴後被檢控，有人獲釋後再被捕；涉逃出理大案的前熱血公民成員鄭錦滿，案發 16 個月後被控，然後在審訊期間被加控暴動罪。
有裁判官指出，若非案件延誤，被告早已刑滿，認為延誤有礙更生，對被告不公，亦令被告及家人承受巨大壓力；亦有裁判官認為檢控沒延誤，或指不認為延誤是「拖延」以致需要減刑。
反修例運動至今有近 7,300 人暫未被起訴。而今年續有多人被控，涉及 6.12 金鐘暴動、8.31 旺角及太子站襲警等。特首李家超 5 月回應檢控進展時指，警方按證據及案情處理，「定一個所謂不基於任何證據考慮的時間表，是不切實際的，亦未必符合法治精神」。
5 Jun 2023法庭線#6551
蔡玉玲查車牌案上訴終極勝訴 判詞：沒理由將真誠新聞調查排除在外
Choy Yuk Ling, Bao, a former producer-director of RTHK’s programme “Hong Kong Connection”, was accused of falsely stating the purpose of a vehicle registration mark search with the Transport Department while following up on the Yuen Long 721 attack. In 2021, Choy Yuk Ling, Bao was convicted of two counts of making false statements and fined HK$6,000. After Choi’s appeal against the convictions was rejected by the High Court, Choi pursued a final appeal. On Monday (the 5th), five Court of Final Appeal judges unanimously allowed the appeal and quashed the convictions and fine.
The judges held that the Commissioner for Transport was entitled to require Choy Yuk Ling, Bao to explain the reasons for the vehicle registration mark search, but there was no reason for the department to exclude bona fide journalistic investigation from the option of “other matters relating to traffic and transport”. Therefore, Choi’s statements on the certificate were not false. The court also held that the term “other matters relating to traffic and transport” was neither clear nor unambiguous. Taking into account the number of times certificates had been issued to the media in the past, Choi, as a journalist, “was very likely honestly mistaken” in believing that her journalistic work was covered. The lower court’s inference that Choi had made false statements therefore caused her substantial and serious injustice.
港台《鏗鏘集》前編導蔡玉玲，被指為跟進元朗 721 襲擊事件，向運輸署虛報車牌查冊用途，2021 年被裁定兩項作出虛假陳述罪成，罰款 6,000 元。蔡提定罪上訴被高院駁回後，再申終極上訴，終院 5 名法官周一（5 日）一致裁定蔡上訴得直，撤銷定罪及罰款。
法官認為，運輸署署長有權要求蔡玉玲交代車牌查冊的理由，但署方沒有理由將真誠的新聞調查，排除在 「其他有關交通及運輸的事宜」這選項以外。因此，蔡在證明書的陳述不屬虛假。法庭又認為，「其他有關交通及運輸的事宜」一詞既不清晰也不明確，考慮到過去媒體獲發證明書的次數，蔡作為記者「很可能誠實地錯誤相信」，其新聞工作用途包含在內，故下級法院推斷蔡作出虛假陳述，對她造成實質及嚴重不公。
5 Jun 2023法庭線#6555
11.18油麻地｜5男暴動罪成 判囚4年3月至4年11月 官指性質惡劣
In November 2019, police besieged protesters inside the Polytechnic University. A total of 213 people were charged with rioting over an attempt to “rescue Wei by besieging Zhao” in Yau Ma Tei. In one case involving 18 people, 13 were convicted after trial. Five men among them were remanded until Monday (the 5th) and sentenced to between 4 years 3 months and 4 years 11 months in prison at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts, sitting temporarily as the District Court.
2019 年 11 月，警方圍堵理工大學內的示威者，213 人涉在油麻地「圍魏救趙」被控暴動。其中一宗涉及 18 人的案件，其中 13 人經審訊後被裁定罪成，而當中 5 男還押至周一（5 日）在西九龍裁判法院（暫代區院），被判囚 4 年 3 月至 4 年 11 月。
2 Jun 2023法庭線#6538
11.18油麻地｜4人暴動罪成 3男囚4年半至5年2月、案發時16歲少女判入教導所
In November 2019, police surrounded protesters inside the Polytechnic University. A total of 213 people were charged with rioting over an incident in Yau Ma Tei described as “besieging Wei to rescue Zhao”. In one case involving 18 defendants, five pleaded guilty and were jailed for 3½ to 4 years, while the remaining 13 were convicted after trial. Three of them, who had been remanded in custody, were sentenced on Friday (the 2nd) at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts, sitting as the District Court, to between 4½ and 5 years 2 months in prison. A woman who was 16 at the time of the offence was sent to a training centre.
Acting Judge Ada Shun Yee Yim said the riot took place in an area densely packed with residential and commercial buildings. Protesters threw petrol bombs and carried out other acts of destruction, posing risks to the property and personal safety of people at the scene, with the losses difficult to estimate. The judge described the circumstances as serious and the nature of the offences as恶劣. The judge said that, regardless of when the defendants joined, they must have known the reality of the riot and had helped sustain it by adding to its strength.
The judge said three of the defendants had respectively confronted police at the front line, possessed cable ties, and possessed a laser pointer, and each had their sentence increased by three months. However, the court took into account their positive lives and employment while awaiting trial, their young age at the time of the offences, and their agreement to most of the facts of the case as grounds for discretionary sentence reductions. The remaining nine convicted defendants were adjourned until June 5 and 8 respectively for mitigation and sentencing.
2019 年 11 月，警方圍堵理工大學內的示威者，213 人涉在油麻地「圍魏救趙」被控暴動。其中一宗涉及 18 人的案件，5 人認罪囚 3 年半至 4 年，餘下 13 人經審訊後被裁定罪成。當中 3 人還押至周五（2 日）在西九龍裁判法院（暫代區院）被判囚 4 年半至 5 年 2 月，另一案發時 16 歲少女則被判入教導所。
暫委法官嚴舜儀指，暴動發生於商住區林立地段，示威者擲汽油彈及其他破壞行為，對現場人士帶來財物和人身安全風險，損失難以估計，斥情節嚴重、性質惡劣。法官認為被告不論在何時加入，都一定知道暴動的實況，增加聲勢令暴動持續。
法官指，其中 3 人分別在前排與警方對峙、管有索帶及鐳射筆，各加監 3 月；但考慮他們候審時積極生活工作、犯案時年輕及同意大部分案情酌情減刑。餘下 9 名罪成被告分別押後至 6 月 5 日及 8 日求情和判刑。
1 Jun 2023法庭線#6531
男子涉張家朗奪金片配《願榮光》涉辱國歌 辯方指警專家多次違紀 質疑誠信有問題
Hong Kong fencer Cheung Ka-long won an Olympic gold medal in 2021. A 27-year-old man was accused of replacing the national anthem in footage of the medal ceremony with “Glory to Hong Kong” and uploading it to YouTube. He was charged with the offence of insulting the national anthem under the National Anthem Ordinance. He pleaded not guilty and is the first defendant to stand trial for insulting the national anthem. The case was originally scheduled for judgment at Eastern Magistrates’ Courts on Thursday (1st), but the defence said it had earlier learned that the police sergeant serving as the expert witness who had researched the song “Glory to Hong Kong” had breached discipline dozens of times in the past and was required to undergo a disciplinary hearing. The prosecution and defence agreed to recall the witness.
The police sergeant admitted in court that he had omitted entries more than 40 times when writing his notebook, had failed to carry his service pistol while on duty on two occasions, and had once left the police station while on duty to “retrieve my private car” and go shopping “for convenience”. He was absent for half an hour and had his pay docked. He explained that he had made the mistakes through “negligent omissions”.
The prosecution said the sergeant had failed to follow procedures but that the matter did not involve integrity issues. He had not repeated the mistakes after undergoing the disciplinary hearing and had also been promoted. The defence said his disciplinary breaches were “absolutely related” to integrity: “Once may have been an accident, I accept that; twice may have been a coincidence, I accept that; three times may have been negligence, but he did it dozens of times. It cannot be explained by negligence; it was a choice.” The defence hoped the court would reconsider whether to accept his expert qualification. After consideration, magistrate Minnie Lai Man Wat decided to maintain his expert qualification. The case was adjourned until 5 July for judgment.
香港劍擊隊代表張家朗 2021 年奪得奧運金牌，一名 27 歲男子被指將頒獎片段中的國歌，換上《願榮光歸香港》並發布至 YouTube，被控違反《國歌條例》下「侮辱國歌」罪。被告不認罪，是首宗涉侮辱國歌受審的案件。案件原訂周四（1 日）在東區裁判法院裁決，但辯方表示，較早前得悉本案「研究歌曲《願榮光歸香港》」的專家證人警署警長，過去曾數十次違紀，須接受紀律聆訊，控辯雙方同意就此重召證人。
警署警長庭上承認曾 40 多次在撰寫記事冊時有遺漏、兩次沒有佩帶警槍執勤、一次當值時「貪方便」，離開警署「攞返自己部私家車」及購物，因而缺勤半小時被扣薪金。他解釋自己因「疏忽遺漏」犯錯。
控方指警長沒按程序辦事，但不涉誠信問題，接受紀律聆訊後沒再犯錯，亦獲晉升。辯方則指其違紀行為，與誠信「絕對有關」，「一次可能係意外，我接受；兩次係偶然，我接受；三次係疏忽，但佢係幾十次，唔係疏忽解釋到，係選擇嚟。」希望法庭重新考慮是否接納其專家資格。裁判官屈麗雯考慮後決定維持其專家資格，案件押後至 7 月 5 日裁決。
1 Jun 2023明報#6532
六四報道巨幅表揚信 掛牆港台34年被除下
The Department of Justice argued that the lower court had failed to consider the social circumstances at the time of the incident, and that the young man must have intended to injure someone. It asked for the case to be remitted to the lower court for reconsideration. The defence, however, said he might have used an object to “ward off” the attack, and that an intention to cause injury was not the only reasonable inference. After hearing submissions from both sides, Judge Cheung Wai-ling said she considered that the trial magistrate had made an error and was inclined to remit the case for reconsideration. She will hand down her judgment on a date to be fixed.
律政司一方認為，原審沒有考慮案發時社會環境，認為青年當時必然有傷人意圖，希望可發還案件予原審重新考慮。但答辯方指，他可能用物品「擋」開攻擊，意圖傷人並非唯一合理推論。法官張慧玲聽畢雙方陳詞，表明認為原審裁判官有犯錯，傾向發還予原審重新考慮，將擇日頒下判詞。
31 May 2023法庭線#6523
8.31太子、油麻地站｜16男女事隔逾3年8個月被控襲警等 准保釋7月答辯
Clashes occurred inside Mong Kok and Prince Edward MTR stations on 31 August 2019. The MTR Corporation announced that the stations were closed due to an “emergency incident”, while riot police entered the stations and used batons and other means to subdue and arrest numerous people. Three men were previously convicted of rioting, unlawful assembly, assault and other offences, and sentenced to between eight months and five and a half years in prison.
More than three years and eight months later, 16 men and women were charged with assaulting police, possessing offensive weapons, unlawful imprisonment and other offences. The case came before Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts on Wednesday (31). The defendants were not required to enter pleas for the time being. The defence applied for an adjournment of about eight weeks, with the case to return on 26, 27 and 28 July, pending the obtaining of documents from the prosecution and the provision of legal advice. The application was approved by Acting Principal Magistrate Peony Nga Yan Wong.
Each defendant was granted cash bail of $3,000 pending the hearing, required to report to a police station once a week and reside at the reported address. Except for one defendant who was allowed to leave Hong Kong temporarily in June for work, all the other defendants were prohibited from leaving Hong Kong and required to surrender all travel documents, including BNO documents. The charge sheet alleges that 13 people assaulted police officers and committed unlawful imprisonment and other offences on the platform of Prince Edward station; two others were allegedly in possession of offensive weapons at Yau Ma Tei station.
2019 年 8 月 31 日，旺角及太子港鐵站內發生衝突，港鐵以「緊急事故」宣布封站，防暴警進站以警棍等制服和拘捕多人。3 名男子早前被裁定暴動、非法集結、襲擊等罪成，判囚 8 個月至 5 年半不等。
事隔逾 3 年 8 個月，16 名男女被落案起訴襲警，管有攻擊性武器、非法禁錮等罪。案件周三（31 日）在九龍城裁判法院提堂，各被告暫毋須答辯，辯方申請將案件押後約 8 星期，至 7 月 26 日、27 日及 28 日再訊，以待向控方索取文件和提供法律意見，獲署理主任裁判官黃雅茵批准。
各被告准以 3,000 元現金保釋候訊，每周到警署報到一次、在報稱地址居住。除其中一人獲准 6 月短暫離港工作外，其他被告均不得離港，需交出所有旅遊證件，包括 BNO 。控罪書指，13 人被指於太子站月台襲警、非法禁錮等；另 2 人則涉於油麻地站管有攻擊性武器。
31 May 2023獨媒#6528
街頭唱願榮光歌手被指組織聚集 官指警證供含糊、不肯定 裁罪脫
Street singer and Hong Kong-Filipino mixed-race man Oliver Ma sang on a street in Central in May two years ago and was accused of causing a crowd to gather. He was charged with organising a prohibited group gathering. Following an earlier trial, the case was decided today (31st) at Eastern Magistrates’ Courts. Magistrate Minnie Lai Man Wat expressed doubts about the reliability of the police officer’s testimony, saying it was vague, including that he could not state the distances between the individual onlookers and only vaguely described them as being “very close together”. The officer was also shaken under cross-examination by the defence, making it difficult to determine whether his observations were accurate. The charge was ultimately found not proven.
街頭歌手、港菲混血兒馬賦馳（Oliver Ma）前年5月在中環街頭演唱，被指引致人群聚集，遭控「組織受禁羣組聚集」罪，經早前審訊，今（31日）於東區裁判法院裁決。裁判官屈麗雯對警員的證供可靠性有所懷疑，又指他的證供流於含糊，包括未能說出圍觀者各人之間的距離，僅含糊地形容「行得好埋」，警員在辯方盤問下亦有所動搖，因此難以判斷他的觀察是否準確，最終裁定罪名不成立。
25 May 2023獨媒#6497
轉載西灣河開槍警禁令資料 黃之鋒囚3個月 官指屬警員起底最嚴重
During the anti-extradition bill protests, a police officer shot at a protester in Sai Wan Ho and was subsequently doxxed online. The court later issued an injunction prohibiting disclosure of the officer’s identity and granted an anonymity order in the criminal proceedings. After both orders were made, Joshua Wong posted on Facebook links containing information about the officer and his family. The Department of Justice said he had breached the orders and initiated civil contempt of court proceedings. Wong previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment. In a judgment handed down today, Judge Wilson Chan said the harm caused by Wong’s reposting of the information was greater and that it encouraged others to harass the parties concerned. At the same time, the judge expressed concern about the delay in prosecution: police had completed most of their investigation by August 2020, but did not take a statement from the shooting officer until 20 months after the incident.
一名警員於反修例運動期間西灣河開槍射擊示威者，被網民起底，法庭其後頒令禁止披露該警身份，並在刑事程序批出匿名令。黃之鋒在兩項禁令頒下後，在 Facebook 貼文並附上開槍警和其家人的資料連結。律政司指他違反禁令，啟動控告民事藐視法庭程序，黃早前認罪並判囚3個月。法官高浩文今頒下判詞，指黃轉載資料所造成傷害較大，鼓勵他人騷擾事主。但同時高官亦關注案件延誤檢控，2020年8月警方已經完成大部分調查，但在事發20個月後才為開槍警錄口供。
24 May 2023法庭線#6485
市民不滿電話卡實名制提司法覆核 指匿名可保護證人 實名反阻礙舉報罪案
The SIM card real-name registration scheme was fully implemented on 24 February 2023, and prepaid SIM cards commonly known as “space cards” that had not completed real-name registration were deactivated. A member of the public dissatisfied with the measure said anonymous identities still had value in dealing with crime, and that real-name registration would hinder the reporting of offences. The applicant filed for judicial review in the High Court on Tuesday (the 23rd), seeking an order requiring the law to be amended so that people could continue using their SIM cards normally before completing the registration procedure.
電話卡實名制於 2023 年 2 月 24 日起全面實施，俗稱「太空卡」、未完成實名登記的電話儲值卡被停用。有市民不滿措施，認為匿名身分在處理罪案時，亦有存在價值，實名制會阻礙舉報罪案，周二（23 日）入稟高等法院提司法覆核。申請人希望法庭下令修例，容許市民在完成登記程序前，仍然可以正常使用電話卡。
Translations are supplied by the source workbook. Consult the original reporting for context.
