Victim In The First Police Shooting Case In Hong Kong Convicted Of All Three Counts

In November 2019, during the anti-extradition protests in Hong Kong, Chow Pak-kwan, a 21-year-old male student was shot and wounded by a traffic policeman firing real bullets at unarmed protesters at close range in Sai Wan Ho. The student was transported to the hospital and survived after the removal of his right kidney and a portion of his liver.

It is absurd that after the incident, Chow Pak-kwan, the victim of the nickname “Koala Bear” and another male student, Woo Tsz-kin, who attempted to stop the police officers from shooting the protesters, were charged with three counts of obstructing official business and attempted robbery. On the other hand, the police officers involved were not convicted, but also protected by an anonymity order, with “Police Officer A” to avoid being accused by the public. On the 29th, after the hearing of the case in the District Court of Hong Kong, the two students were convicted of all three offenses on October 10th the sentence was determined after taking into account a letter of plea leniency.

In her adjudication, Judge Adriana Noelle Tse Ching noted that “Officer A” was pushed down by four individuals and while being spoken to in abusive languages, making A feel despised and frightened. As a result, A’s shooting was justified, and did not constitute “excessive force,” as the defense claims. The public was disgusted at the verdict for being unfair and set a precedent in undermining the rule of law.

One of the parties, “koala bear”, Chow Pak-kwan may have foreseen the verdict’s outcome. He wrote an article ahead of the verdict and stated that he had no idea what to say and could only plan for the worst while preparing for the best. He was hoping that his body would be able to handle the difficult situation in the future.