2023-10-30 06:02:02
HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong court on Monday dismissed a weapons charge once morest a Washington state senator who was arrested following arriving with a gun in Chinese territory, in what the defendant described as a “mistake without bad faith.” .
Republican Jeff Wilson declared that he was carrying a weapon at the airport on October 21, has no criminal record in Hong Kong and openly acknowledged what happened, prosecutors said at the court hearing.
Chief Magistrate Don So approved precautionary measures for the defendant, in lieu of a hearing in which he would have to plead guilty or not guilty to possessing an unlicensed weapon in the territory, and said he believed Wilson was innocent.
The order requires Wilson not to be disorderly and to avoid committing other firearms offenses for two years. Wilson will be fined HK$2,000 ($255) if he fails to comply with the order, the magistrate said.
Since the case was resolved without conviction, the senator is free to leave the territory. A statement posted earlier on the Longview lawmaker’s website indicated that while the gun was not registered in Hong Kong, it was registered in Washington.
Hong Kong has stricter gun laws than the United States. People convicted of carrying a firearm without a license can be fined up to HK$100,000 ($12,800) and sentenced to up to 14 years in prison.
According to his website, Wilson was traveling with his wife for a five-week vacation in Southeast Asia. He discovered that he was carrying the gun during his flight between San Francisco and Hong Kong, he said.
The court heard Wilson had told a customs inspector it was a “dreadful accident” following his arrest. His luggage had gone through security in Portland before stopping in San Francisco, he said in a previous interview with the inspector.
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