Five Years After 7.21 Attack | No New Arrests or Prosecutions in Past Year; One Non-White-Clad Person Convicted, 9 White-Clad People Convicted and 1 Acquitted
721襲擊五年｜過去一年沒新拘捕或檢控 至今非白衣1人罪成 白衣人9罪成、1罪脫
As the Yuen Long 7.21 attack reaches its fifth anniversary, police made no new arrests and the Department of Justice brought no new prosecutions in the past year. In response to an inquiry, police said 69 people had been arrested to date, with 22 charged with rioting and other offences—figures unchanged from July last year. One 7.21 case concluded during the year. It was the first in which a non-white-clad person was found guilty of rioting. The judge rejected the defendant’s testimony that he had acted in self-defence and to protect others, saying that “the black-clad side used violence to counter violence, contrary to reason and law”, but considered that the levels of violence on the two sides differed and that their criminal liability was therefore different. On the white-clad side, one more person pleaded guilty, while cases involving five others entered the appeal stage. Across the six court cases to date (see the table in the article), four involved white-clad people, with nine people convicted and one acquitted. Two involved non-white-clad people, with one person convicted. Another case involving seven people, including Lam Cheuk-ting, is still being heard, with closing submissions scheduled for September.
元朗 721 襲擊踏入五周年，最近一年警方沒有作出新拘捕，律政司亦沒有提出新檢控。警方回覆查詢時指，至今拘捕 69 人，有 22 人被控暴動等罪，數字與去年 7 月相同。 這一年有一宗 721 案件審結，該案是首次有非白衣人被裁定暴動罪成，法官拒納被告供稱出於自衛、保護他人，又指「黑衣人一方以暴易暴，違理違法」，但認為雙方暴力程度有別，刑責不同。至於白衣人一方，再多一人認罪，另有 5 人的案件進入上訴階段。 綜合至今 6 宗法庭案件（見內文表），白衣人案佔 4 宗，共 9 人罪成，一人罪脫。非白衣人案佔兩宗，一人罪成，而包括林卓廷等 7 人的另案仍在審理，將於 9 月進行結案陳詞。