Three men who stalked pro-democracy lawmaker Eddie Chu during September’s Legislative Council election have been sentenced to two months’ imprisonment, while a fourth was given a community service order.
Lam Ka-chun, 43, Ho Yee-kei, and brothers Wong Kin-fai, 36, and Wong Chun-yam, 18, were sentenced at the Tuen Mun Magistrates’ Court yesterday. They were convicted last week of one joint charge of loitering causing concern, an offense which bears a maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment.
Lam, Ho, and the elder Wong (who is also Chu’s neighbor) were all jailed for two months, while the younger Wong, who is still in secondary school, was given 160 hours of community service. The teenager is the only defendant without a previous criminal record, the Stand News reports.
The other three defendants all have prior convictions for offenses including possession of firearms and ammunition without a license. The prosecution also revealed that Lam was jailed for 12 years in 1997 for manslaughter. At the time of their arrests in late September, police said the men were believed to have triad links.
On September 4, the day of the LegCo election, Chu livestreamed footage of the four men tailing his family and campaign team in two cars. Chu testified that the cars followed him for hours throughout the day, and he also saw Ho photographing him.
After their arrest, the defendants said they were just “going for a ride” and were on their way to have dim sum. Acting Principal Magistrate Merinda Chow called their excuses “ridiculous” and said Chu had reasonable cause to believe his family and team were in danger.
Chu ran independently and campaigned against the destruction of heritage properties to make way for newer developments. He has sought to expose shady political dealings in rural areas where local strongmen are influential and have been accused of having links to criminal gangs.
The 39-year-old lawmaker said last year that he began receiving threats as soon as he announced his campaign, and was forced into hiding after he won a seat in New Territories West with 84,121 votes — the highest number received by any candidate — and began receiving death threats.
Chu’s visits to the court room are far from over, however, as he and fellow pro-democracy lawmaker Cheng Chung-tai are currently facing a judicial review for altering their oaths of office. Six opposition lawmakers have already been disqualified for the same reason, with the High Court citing an Basic Law interpretation from Beijing which decreed that all oaths must be taken in a “solemn and sincere” manner.
