- Ng had been sentenced to four months in prison for disclosing details of probe into former permanent secretary for home affairs Betty Fung
- Chairman of League of Social Democrats says his actions in public interest but judge rules they served only to raise his reputation
A Hong Kong activist convicted of divulging details of a corruption investigation into a former government official lost an appeal against his sentence on Wednesday, with the judge saying his actions were not in the public interest but served only to raise his reputation.
Chairman of the League of Social Democrats Avery Ng Man-yuen was sentenced to four months in prison for revealing the investigation into former permanent secretary for home affairs Betty Fung Ching Suk-yee in 2016.
Ng was sent to jail immediately, although his lawyer said they intended to apply for bail pending his final appeal later.
Ng, 41, revealed on social media and to reporters that Fung – who held her former post between July 2014 and March last year – was under scrutiny by the Independent Commission Against Corruption after he reported her.
He invited the press and posted pictures on his Facebook page when he was invited to ICAC’s office to give a witness testimony as a complainant.
The Eastern magistrate found him guilty of three counts of disclosing the identity of individuals being investigated, an offence which carries a maximum jail sentence of one year and a HK$20,000 (US$2,555) fine.
Ng admitted revealing the details, but argued it was in the public interest, a defence the trial judge rejected.
High Court judge Mrs Justice Judianna Barnes, who heard his appeal, ruled on Thursday she did not see a connection between the public interest and Ng taking photographs of the ICAC office.
“His move was obviously to raise his reputation,” said the judge of the activist.
The judge said Ng lacked genuine remorse to merit a community service order.
For sentencing, Barnes said Ng lacked the genuine remorse to merit a community service order. Nor did she find a four-month jail sentence excessive.
The investigation centred on a conflict of interest between Fung and her husband and a businesswoman over certain properties.
The trial, involving her husband Wilson Fung Wing-yip and Cheyenne Chan Ung-iok, the sister-in-law of gaming tycoon Stanley Ho Hung-sun, is currently under way. Fung has not been charged with any crime.
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The trial court heard that after Ng had filed his complaint, an ICAC investigator reminded him not to disclose any details when he was invited to make a statement at the commission’s North Point headquarters. But Ng revealed the meeting on his social media accounts.
The investigator then changed the time and location of the interview to Yau Ma Tei. But when Ng was giving a statement, he posted on various social media accounts: “Making statement at ICAC”, “A thousand people and I had low popularity. It’s time for me to promote my page” and “Very boring. Have waited for a long time”.
The posts included a selfie with an ICAC logo in one of the interview rooms.
Ng was cleared on appeal in March of throwing a tuna sandwich in the direction of former chief executive Leung Chun-ying during a protest in September 2016.
Ng, a comrade of radical activist “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung, failed to win a seat at the last two Legco elections.