Hong Kong Court of Appeal Upholds Acquittal of Former Lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting
The Court of Appeal dismissed the Department of Justice's challenge and maintained the District Court's decision that ex-lawyer Lam Cheuk-ting and two co-defendants were not guilty of perverting the course of justice linked to the 2019 protests.
On Friday, Hong Kong's Court of Appeal, composed of judges Derek Pang, Keith Yeung and Judianna Barnes, upheld a January 2023 District Court ruling that cleared former Democratic Party legislator Lam Cheuk-ting, social worker Aggie Chung and journalist Ronnie Tsang of perverting the course of justice. The charges related to a July 6, 2019 confrontation at Tuen Mun Park, where authorities claimed the three men forced a witness, identified only as X, to delete photos of protesters taken near the police headquarters in Wan Chai.
The appellate judges concluded that the prosecution could not demonstrate that the photographs ever existed, and noted Lam's intent to protect the witness. Consequently, the judges affirmed the acquittals of all three defendants. Lam remains incarcerated for a separate six-year-nine-month sentence handed down after the Hong Kong 47 national security trial in May 2024.
Why it matters
The ruling limits the reach of post-protest prosecutions and underscores judicial scrutiny of evidence in politically sensitive cases.
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