Man jailed for urging San Uk Ling ‘rescue mission’

Poon Yung-wai, dubbed “Kim Jong-un” on social media, was originally given a community service order of 160 hours for urging people in a Facebook group to “rescue protesters” who he said were being sexually assaulted by the police at the San Uk Ling detention facility.

Prosecutors said a lower court did not fully consider that the 37-year-old referred to “snatching arrestees” from the police, and his remarks online could have incited many people to act, noting that there were up to 20,000 users in the Facebook group.

They added that Poon displayed hatred against the force by fabricating rape allegations, and by lying that one of his classmates was a “black cop” in order to lend credibility to his claims.

The High Court said a custodial sentence was warranted considering the potential risk Poon had posed to public order and how he attacked law enforcement officers.

Justice Jeremy Poon said the starting point for sentencing was 15 months, and he was deducting two months as the defendant had already completed a quarter of his community service order.

Separately, the High Court said a custodial sentence with rehabilitative elements was needed for a teenager who trashed a mainland-owned bubble tea shop during an anti-government protest last year.

The court said the 200 hours of community service previously ordered was too lenient considering the serious nature of the offence, but postponed sentencing to April 12 pending assessment reports.