Hong Kong man sentenced to jail in his absence over online posts calling for murder of chief magistrate and his family
- Cheung Chi-ho is unlikely to serve four-month jail term for civil contempt of court any time soon as he absconded in 2021 while under police investigation
- Under 2019 ban, members of the public cannot publish and circulate material online that incites the use or threat of violence
Hong Kong’s High Court has sentenced a middle-aged man to four months in his absence for encouraging others to murder a magistrate and his family in breach of a 2019 ban on incitement to violence on the internet.
But the sentence for civil contempt of court is unlikely to be enforced any time soon, as the accused, Cheung Chi-ho, absconded while police were investigating an incitement offence he is alleged to have committed in December 2020.
Mr Justice Russell Coleman on Monday said he was satisfied the court could sentence the defendant in his absence as he had “apparently refused to engage in these proceedings” despite having knowledge of the proceedings.
“He has deliberately not only failed to admit liability for contempt, but he has also deliberately failed to offer any form of apology for his conduct. I find no remorse,” the judge said.
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Government counsel earlier told the court that Cheung had called on others to kill Chief Magistrate Victor So Wai-tak and his family using a bomb in two Facebook messages posted on December 5, 2020.
“It is useless to talk. Bomb the whole family to death. Then there will be evidence,” the defendant was said to have written in one message, published in a group with more than 93,000 members.
The other message, which contained similar wording, was posted on the page of i-Cable News the same day.
The chief magistrate received a death threat at his office two days earlier, soon after So remanded media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying in custody over allegations of fraud and amid a national security investigation.
Police arrested Cheung, then 61, in March 2021 on suspicion of incitement to wound.
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He admitted under caution that he had written the two comments on his own initiative, but said he did it on impulse without intention to harm the judicial officer and his family.
Cheung fled Hong Kong through the airport in September 2021 while he was on police bail. A police inquiry revealed his mobile phone number was terminated the next month and his Facebook account became inaccessible early last year.
The Department of Justice started contempt proceedings against Cheung in late November last year, but he failed to respond despite several attempts to notify him of the civil complaint by email.
Coleman found Cheung liable for contempt last month and ordered his arrest, but set Monday as the deadline for sentencing regardless of whether the defendant appeared in court or not.
The judge said as he passed sentence that Cheung’s use of social media to spread the offensive remarks made the case serious.
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He said the defendant had taken advantage of an actual bomb threat against the magistrate to goad others into taking action.
“It also seems to me to be an aggravating factor that the comments were directed not just at a senior judicial officer – itself a serious affront and challenge to the administration of justice – but also at his wife and child,” Coleman said.
“Most right-minded people would find this form of incitement – whether in breach of a court order or not – utterly repugnant and unacceptable.”
It was not the first time the High Court has imposed sentences for contempt of court in a defendant’s absence.
