[The 612 people charged with rioting] Statistics: Age, Occupation and Time of Arrest

One-third of the defendants with rioting charge are aged under 20 / 

Aged 11-15, Aged 16-20, Aged 21-30, Aged 31-40, Aged 41-60, Aged over 50 /

Each figure represents 10 defendants (round up or down to the nearest 10)

Who are those charged with rioting?

It has been a year since the Anti Extradition Law Amendment Bill (Anti-ELAB) movement started. Undoubtedly what happened on 12 June 2019 at Admiralty marked an important turning point. 

The Legislative Council building was broken into by protestors on 12 June 2019, resulting in police dispersing the crowd by tear gas and rubber bullets. The then Hong Kong Police Commissioner Stephen Lo Wai-chung characterised the June 12 (6.12) incident as a “riot” and later Chief Executive Carrie Lam concurred. Four days later on 16 June, two million Hong Kong people marched on the streets, chanting slogans including “students are not rioters” and “there are no riots”. “Retract the characterisation of riot” is among the five key demands in the Anti-ELAB movement.

However the government did not respond to the demand and as such protestors kept fighting on resulting in more and more being arrested. Information provided by the Hong Kong Police Force in response to Stand News’ request indicates that from 9 June 2019 to 31 May 2020, the police arrested 8,986 people, of which 1,808 have been prosecuted. Most are charged with rioting and the number coincidentally is 612. 

A 21-year old lifeguard was recently tried for participating in the 6.12 riot and pleaded guilty in a magistrate court. The judge stressed that the protester caused “direct damage on the rule of law”, “ignoring the law and safety of police officers”. The sentencing thus must achieve sufficient deterrent effect and take public interest into consideration. After considering the scale of the riot, degree of violence, the age of the defendant and that he had pleaded guilty, the judge passed a sentence of four years’ imprisonment, The sentencing starting point upon conviction is six years, reduced by one-third with guilty plea as a mitigation factor. 

For the 612 people charged with rioting, this is the impediment they all are facing. Once convicted, they will have to spend their prime years behind bars. With the threat looming, planning for the future is beyond reach. 

Marking the first anniversary, Stand News interviewed a number of defendants charged with rioting during the Anti-ELAB movement, to understand the fundamental reasons behind their participation. This is to record the anxiety and wishes of each of the 612 people in this critical moment of their lives. 

612 charged with rioting

The highest single day number was recorded on the day of Siege of Hong Kong Polytechnic University with more than 280 charged

Above is a bar chart illustrating how many were arrested and charged with rioting by incidents. The y-axis shows the number of people charged with rioting and the x-axis the incidents. 

One-third charged with rioting are aged 20 and under. Fourteen are under 16.

Aged 11-15: 14

Aged 16-20: 207

Aged 21-30: 324

Aged 31-40: 37

Aged 41-50: 14 

Aged 51 and over: 1

The chart above shows the age distribution of 598 defendants charged with rioting. Fourteen of the 612 charged have not attended court and thus data is yet to be made available. 

38.29% of those charged are students

Clerical 4.35%

Construction and engineering 4.68%

Catering industry 4.85%

Service industry 2.68%

Education 1.51%

Medical and health care 1.34%

Students 38.29%

Others 20.40%

Unemployed 5.69%

Occupation not reported 16.22%

Remarks: Data of 598 defendants only.  Fourteen of the 612 charged have not attended court and thus data is yet to be made available.

Source: Stand News, 12 June 2020 

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