Hongkonger, 19, guilty of posting seditious graffiti in commercial complex toilet

Leung Kai-lok scrawled graffiti inside a men’s toilet in China Hong Kong City in Tsim Sha Tsui between July 17 and 21 last year West Kowloon Court rejected a psychiatrist’s opinion that a mental disorder prevented Leung Kai-lok from understanding the offensive words he used. Photo: Jelly Tse A 19-year-old in Hong Kong has been convicted of sedition for writing anti-government graffiti in a commercial building toilet, violating the city’s domestic national security law. West Kowloon Court on Wednesday rejected a defence psychiatrist’s opinion that a congenital mental disorder prevented Leung Kai-lok from understanding the offensive words he used against the government and police. Leung stood trial earlier this year before a magistrate hand-picked by the city leader to oversee national security proceedings. The teen pleaded guilty to three counts of criminal damage but denied committing a seditious act, an offence under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance. The trial heard that the defendant scrawled graffiti inside a men’s toilet in China Hong Kong City in Tsim Sha Tsui between July 17 and 21 last year. The toilet was located on the same floor where the defendant worked as a part-time clerk at the Vanuatu consulate. Surveillance footage showed Leung leaving the toilet at around 4pm on July 17 shortly before a cubicle was found defaced with statements of death threats to former city leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and her successor John Lee Ka-chiu. The next morning, Leung was again seen inside the toilet moments before the building’s security staff discovered seditious slogans on “liberating” Hong Kong and condemning the police, Lam and Lee. A national security police officer went to the toilet to investigate on July 21 and intercepted Leung after the accused wrote similar messages in the same toilet. Leung admitted writing the graffiti to express his discontent with authorities, adding that he had tried to hide inside a separate cubicle and run away because he was afraid of being caught. The defence cited the assessment of psychiatrist Dr Wong Chung-kwong and argued Leung had autism spectrum disorder and exhibited acute dissociative reactions to stressful events. The court heard that Leung Kai-lok scrawled graffiti inside a men’s toilet in China Hong Kong City in Tsim Sha Tsui. Photo: Sam Tsang Wong said that the defendant’s obsessive thinking about the 2019 anti-government protests and a mentally unstable man shouting curses outside his home had caused him to write the offensive comments involuntarily. Psychiatrist Dr Paul Tam Mo-shing, engaged by the prosecution, rejected his counterpart’s conclusion and found insufficient clinical evidence suggesting Leung was autistic or was suffering an acute mental condition at the time of the offences. Unhandled type: inline-plus-widget {"type":"inline-plus-widget"} Chief Magistrate Victor So Wai-tak on Wednesday accepted Tam’s observations, saying Wong’s analysis was based mostly on hearsay and lacked the professional rigour required of an expert witness. So ruled that the defendant was neither mentally unstable nor coerced into making various incriminatory remarks in three police interviews. “The defendant must have sufficient intellectual and cognitive ability to understand the meaning of the words he scrawled,” the magistrate said. “He called for Hong Kong independence and a departure from the ‘one country, two systems’ principle. He incited hatred by vilifying police and associating the force with negative portrayals including corruption and abuse of power. “He also instigated anti-government sentiments with personal attacks and threats against two chief executives, the symbol of the administration.” Leung, who secured bail after spending nearly a month in custody, was incarcerated again pending sentencing on August 12.