A Hong Kong man who said he was drunk when he threw the flags of China and the city to the ground during National Day celebrations last year has been sentenced to 18 days in prison for insulting the emblems.
Yung Ching-man, who was arrested last October and charged with one count of desecrating the Chinese national flag, appeared before Magistrate Frances Leung at the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts for sentencing on Friday. He also faced one count of insulting the regional flag.
“The flag represents the country and the people, so for you to insult the flag is to insult yourself,” Leung said. “That should have been a day of happy celebrations for the country, and yet this is what you did.”
Patriots
Yung’s lawyer provided two mitigating letters including one from his father, which said the defendant’s entire family “loved China and loved Hong Kong,” and that Yung, 31, had “never participated in any social movements.”
Yung’s father also said he had neglected the defendant as he was busy with work, and would bear responsibility for the crime. The lawyer appealed for a shorter sentence so his client could contribute to society.
Yung was arrested on October 7 last year for damaging two flags erected on China’s National Day outside Po Leung Kuk Lam Man Chan English Primary School in To Kwa Wan. Surveillance footage showed Yung taking down the flags on October 2 and throwing them to the ground.
The flags were displayed by the city’s largest pro-establishment political party, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong. Yung had previously said under police caution that he was drunk at the time and the flags had annoyed him.
‘Negative perception’
Citing surveillance footage, Leung said while the area was not densely populated when Yung damaged the national flag, that did not mean he was not seen. That could have caused a “negative perception,” she said.
Yung set the sentence starting point for both charges at 24 days, but reduced them to 18 days after taking Yung’s guilty plea into account, also allowing the two sentences to be served concurrently. Yung will also pay the DAB HK$200 in damages.
The sentencing came after Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang on Wednesday submitted a bill to make residents “consciously respect and love” the city’s flag and emblem.
Tsang called on lawmakers to support the proposal, which included updating the legislation so that provisions outlawing insults to the regional flag or emblem would apply to online and real life behaviour. Violators could face up to three years in prison and a fine of HK$50,000.
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