A Hong Kong court has rejected an appeal by a jailed social worker against her conviction for rioting in connection with the 2019 protests and riots.
The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to allow it Jackie Chen to appeal her conviction for rioting, for which she is serving a prison term of three years and nine months.
Court of Appeal judge Derek Pang said the grounds for her appeal were not “reasonably arguable”.
Chen’s lawyers argued that the prosecution had not provided enough evidence to prove that she had communicated with the protesters, encouraged them to the scene or intended to participate in a riot.
But Judge Pang rejected the argument, saying such questions had been addressed during the trial.
He cited the judge’s finding that Chen had encouraged protesters by making “baseless accusations” against police through a megaphone during a clash between the two groups.
He said Chen could still take her appeal to a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal, but warned she could face additional jail time if her bid is rejected again.
Her lawyer, Chris Ng, told reporters after Thursday’s hearing that Chen had dropped her appeal against her sentence.
Sentencing after retrial
Last year, Chen, who was often seen on the front lines of the 2019 protests with a megaphone, was convicted of rioting after a retrial.
The social worker was initially acquitted of rioting in the middle of the road through her first trial in September 2020, but the government successfully appealed her release.
See also: Hongkongers freed in 2019 protests face long legal battle after government appeals
it pleaded not guilty when faced with a retrial in December 2024, but it was sentenced in March 2025 – more than five years since the protest.
The trial judge, Deputy District Judge May Chung, said in the ruling that Chen had made “fictitious” claims to the police when she spoke through a megaphone during the protest, which took place on August 31, 2019, near Hennessy Road and Luard Road in Wan Chai.
Chen was heard telling police not to carry out a “massive chase and killing” during the demonstration, which Chung found to be “clearly” untrue.
Chen’s constant shouting “raised the emotions of those who had gathered to be more hostile to the police,” Chung ruled.
Protests erupted in June 2019 on a that-axe extradition bill. they escalated in sometimes violent displays of dissent against police behavior, among calls for democracy and anger at Beijing’s breach. the demonstrators demanded A independent probe in the conduct of the police, amnesty for the arrested and a stop characterizing of protests as “riots”.
