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Court fines Hong Kong woman who took off mask ‘to communicate with the deceased’ during ferry crash memorial

  • Defendant maintained removing her mask was gesture of respect for dead, but magistrate finds rationale unreasonable
  • Memorial last year was held to mark anniversary of 2012 Lamma ferry crash, which killed 39 people

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Activist Lui Yuk-lin appears outside Eastern Court, where she was fined HK$5,000 for a mask violation on Wednesday. Photo: Brian Wong
A Hong Kong activist who insisted on taking off her mask to “communicate with the deceased” during a Buddhist ritual to mourn the victims of the 2012 Lamma ferry crash has been fined HK$5,000 (US$643) for breaking Covid-19 regulations.
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An Eastern Court magistrate on Wednesday found that Lui Yuk-lin lacked justification for her defiant act on National Day last year, saying it was illogical and unreasonable to exempt people claiming to be performing a religious act in public from wearing a mask during the pandemic.

But Lui vowed to hold the memorial again, without a mask, on October 1 this year, saying the gesture was intended to pay respect to the dead and carried no risk of spreading the coronavirus as she would be performing the ritual alone by the sea.

The Lamma ferry crash on National Day in 2012 left 39 people dead. Photo: SCMP
The Lamma ferry crash on National Day in 2012 left 39 people dead. Photo: SCMP

Lui, a 59-year-old janitor, had pleaded not guilty to one count of failing to wear a mask in a public place under the Prevention and Control of Disease (Wearing of Mask) Regulation.

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She stood accused of flouting the government’s directive at Central Pier on October 1 last year, when she remembered the 39 victims of the deadly ferry collision off Lamma Island on National Day nine years ago.

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