Hong Kong’s District Court sentences Alice Tong Ka-yan, 27, to 34 months in prison for taking part in a riot during the 2019 anti-government protests. The sentence is handed down on Wednesday after an earlier acquittal is overturned on appeal. Sources report that Tong had been found not guilty previously, but a judge later reverses that decision and convicts her of rioting. The sentencing results in a term of two years and 10 months (34 months), according to court reporting.
The prosecution and the judge’s ruling indicate that the conviction is based on circumstantial evidence the court finds sufficient, with one report describing it as “overwhelming.” Tong’s defence argues in mitigation that she acted under peer influence and in the context of the broader social environment at the time. The court proceeds to impose the prison term despite these factors. The case forms part of a wider pattern of outcomes in protest-related prosecutions, where appellate decisions have changed the final results for some defendants.
