Social worker Jackie Chen was on Wednesday handed a three-year, nine-month prison sentence after being convicted of rioting during the 2019 unrest in a retrial.
Chen was accused of taking part in a riot on August 31, 2019, when protesters used debris to set up roadblocks in Wan Chai and clashed with police.
In 2020, a District Court judge acquitted her and ruled that she had no case to answer, before the Department of Justice lodged an appeal.
The Court of Appeal later ordered a retrial of four defendants, including Chen. She was the only one out of the four to not plead guilty in the retrial.
In sentencing, Deputy District Judge May Chung said the case was very serious.
Chung noted that while there was no evidence showing the four defendants were leading the charge in the riot, some of them had brought gear such as masks and gloves.
The judge also said Chen had voiced support for the gathering crowd at the scene and encouraged the riot – not the lowest level of participation in the protests.
But she decided to reduce the jail term by 10 months for all four defendants, after noting they were under stress from the five-year-long proceedings.
Three others in the case each received a jail term of two years and five months after pleading guilty.
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Last updated: 2025-04-09 HKT 16:18
Social worker jailed over riot conviction in retrial
2025-04-09 HKT 14:49
