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Chris Lau

A university student caught with 16 “smoke cakes” in his rucksack near a protest at the Legislative Council complex last year was found guilty of possessing an explosive on Friday.
Open University of Hong Kong student Kwan Ka-hei was found with the offending devices while lawmakers inside the Legco building discussed the controversial so-called Internet Article 23.
He became the first Hongkonger convicted of the crime over an item more akin to pyrotechnics or a firework than an explosive.
The 21-year-old failed to convince Eastern Court that he had not known what the yellow disc-like objects were when two police officers found them in his rucksack during a search at the Admiralty Centre on December 16, 2015.
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The discs turned out to weigh 1kg, half of which was potassium chlorate, which emits smoke when it is lit.
Deputy Magistrate Jacky Ip Kai-leung said the offence was serious, and that an immediate custodial sentence was likely.
But he granted bail and adjourned the sentence to January 16 after being told Kwan had exams to attend. He sought a background report on Kwan in the meantime.
The court heard during the trial that the two police officers tailed Kwan after spotting him looking suspicious near a rally outside Legco.
A crowd was gathering outside the legislature to protest against the Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2014, fearing that it could trample free speech on the internet. The proposed bill is commonly dubbed “Internet Article 23” in a reference to the section of the Basic Law which deals with controversial national security legislation.
The officers stopped Kwan on the first floor of the Admiralty Centre. In his bag, they found the smoke cakes, as well as a balaclava, a pair of gloves and a lighter.
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Kwan told them a friend had given him the smoke cakes, and he had no idea what they were. But he later changed his story, saying they were mosquito repellents.
Convicting Kwan, magistrate Ip cast doubt on his conflicting accounts, adding that the balaclava and gloves suggested the cakes were intended for illegal use.
“Those [smoke cakes] were not everyday objects... and there were as many as 16 of them,” said the magistrate.
“The court is of the view that it was not possible they were not for illegal use.”
During the trial, a debate arose as to whether the smoke cakes amounted to explosives, as specified in the Crimes Ordinance.
A witness said that although they were explosives theoretically, they were pyrotechnics in practice.
Ip ruled that they were dangerous, and amounted to the level required in the ordinance.
In mitigation, Kwan’s counsel Van Ma pleaded for a non-custodial sentence for her client, who grew up in church.
“How he was different from other young offenders is that he had a supportive family,” she said.
The counsel also noted there was no way Kwan would know possessing smoke cakes could amount to a criminal offence, because that was only worked out in his trial.


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Hong Kong student found guilty over explosives outside Legco complex

Kwan was found guilty at Eastern Court. Photo: Nora Tam

News

Hong Kong

Law and Crime

Officers searched the man near a protest against the so-called Internet Article 23
