47-case: Hendrick Lui Chi-hang says in mitigation letter that young people’s despair in 2019 far exceeded his childhood suffering; hopes to repay his parents’ kindness in future
47人案 呂智恆求情信：2019年感青年絕望遠超自己童年痛苦 心存盼望未來報親恩
The 47 pro-democracy figures charged with conspiracy to subvert state power completed mitigation submissions on Tuesday morning (the 3rd) for Hendrick Lui Chi-hang and Mike Lam King-nam, who stood in the New Territories East primary election. Philip Sai Kit Chan, the barrister representing Lui, cited a mitigation letter written by Lui, saying he was born into a broken family and had an unhappy childhood. The Courtroom News obtained the letter, in which Lui gave a detailed account of being left without a settled home after his parents divorced. He said at least three years of primary school were a “march towards darkness”; he had been forced to work as a child labourer, subjected to corporal punishment and endured insufficient food. He later moved into a children’s home and was adopted. Lui said the circumstances in 2019 made him deeply feel that “the sense of despair among this generation’s young people far exceeds the suffering I experienced in my childhood”. He became a social worker and resolved to “use life to influence life”. Lui said he joined the primary election to exercise, with authorisation from the people, a veto power that would “remove the Chief Executive through a very helpless and indirect means”, adding that he had naively believed at the time that exercising the veto power was lawful. He also said that, because of the case, he had frequently suffered from insomnia and immense pressure during his years on bail, and felt distressed and guilty about increasing the burden on his family. He concluded: “I fully understand the seriousness of the offence and dare not underestimate the sentence, but I will remain hopeful and look forward to repaying my parents’ kindness and serving disadvantaged communities in the future.”
47 名民主派被控「串謀顛覆國家政權」罪，周二（3 日）早上完成處理參選新東的呂智恆、林景楠求情陳詞。呂的代表大狀陳世傑，引呂親撰的求情信指他生於破碎家庭，童年悲慘。 《法庭線》取得信件，呂詳述因父母離異而居無定所，指小學至少 3 年「邁向黑暗」，曾被逼做童工、體罰，忍受食物不足，其後入住兒童之家及獲得領養。呂續稱 2019 年的狀況令他深感「這代青年的絕望感遠遠超過，我童年時受到的痛苦」，成為社工立志「以生命，影響生命」。 呂指，參加初選為了由人民授權，行使否決權，「以非常無奈和間接的方式罷免特首」，指當時無知地相信行使否決權是合法。他又指因本案保釋幾年來常失眠、壓力巨大，對增加家人的負擔，感痛苦和歉疚，最後指「深知罪名嚴重，不敢低估刑期，但會心存盼望，期望未來報答親恩和服務弱勢社群。」