On November 11, 2019, a police officer shot and injured a demonstrator in Sai Wan Ho. The male student Zhou Baijun and another male student who were shot were later charged with attempted robbery and obstructing office work. Zhou was suspected of being shot After trying to escape, he was charged with attempting to escape from legal custody. They were found guilty of all charges following interrogation and were sentenced in the District Court today (30th). Judge Xie Shenzhi pointed out that the two defendants openly challenged the power of the police and acted lawlessly. Their attempt to snatch guns from uniformed police officers was an added factor for punishment. However, Zhou’s gunshot wound was self-inflicted, not the reason for pleading, and the two defendants were sentenced to 6 years in prison.
The two defendants are 23-year-old Zhou Baijun and 22-year-old Hu Zijian. They were charged with deliberately obstructing Police Officer A near the intersection of Tai On Street, Shau Kei Wan Road and Shing On Street on that day, and attempting to steal a police gun from A. Zhou was also charged with attempting to escape from A’s legal custody. According to the prosecution, the police officers were flanked by four people. During the period, they saw someone trying to grab a police gun, so they fired three shots, one of which hit Zhou in the abdomen. Zhou still tried to escape while waiting for the ambulance.
Judge Xie Shenzhi pointed out that from the clothing and equipment of the two defendants, it can be seen that they participated in the assembly in a planned way. When they saw the police officers on duty alone that day, they took advantage of the large number of people to provoke and bully them like bullies, openly challenging the power of the police. Ji, with the sentence of 12 months in prison as the starting point for sentencing for the crime of obstructing misdeeds. Regarding the crime of attempted robbery, the judge said that it was different from ordinary robbery or attempted robbery. The two attempted to grab guns from police officers, not ordinary citizens. Their behavior easily aroused the emotions of the masses, which is an additional sentence. Therefore, 6 years of imprisonment was adopted as the starting point for sentencing of this crime. Finally, for the crime of attempting to escape from legal custody, the judge accused the first defendant of acting calculatedly and sentenced him to 6 months in prison. The defense mentioned that the first defendant suffered from many sequelae following being shot, and his eating was affected. Citing the medical report, the judge stated that the first defendant was recovering satisfactorily. He accused the defense of exaggerating and misleading the court. The judge believed that their injuries were self-inflicted and did not constitute a commutation factor. The judge denounced the two as having no remorse, taking into account the integrity of the sentencing, and ordered the two defendants to be executed concurrently, with a total sentence of 6 years for both.
