Pro-Beijing Man Convicted of Destroying Hong Kong Falun Gong Truth Clarification Sites

Wu Oi-man, a pro-communist man who repeatedly destroyed the Falun Gong truth-clarification sites in December 2020, was convicted on Oct. 30 at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court for five counts of criminal damage, and his sentence was postponed to Dec. 1.

Magistrate LI Chi-ho announced the reason for the ruling, pointing out that the case was not disputed at the factual level, and the defendant did not deny that the items of the Falun Gong Street Station were damaged. Regarding the defence citing the Constitution and the National Security Law, saying that the defendant believes that the exhibits of Falun Gong practitioners are “illegal” and that in order to “defend national security,” he “has the right to enforce the law on his own.” Magistrate LI said the defendant was trying to argue his way out of the issue and asked, “If someone says something that is insulting to our country, can they also enforce the law themselves? Murder, theft, and sabotage can all be protected by the National Security Law?” The defendant was found guilty of all crimes as he had no reasonable defence for his conduct.

The defence attorneys said the defendant did not plead and apply. The magistrate adjourned the case until Dec. 1, during which time a probation officer’s report will be obtained from the accused. The accused remains on bail.

Both the prosecution and the defence agreed on the facts of the case that the defendant destroyed Falun Gong practitioners’ banners, display boards, computer racks, and other items in Mong Kok, Wong Tai Sin, and Tsim Sha Tsui on Dec. 13, 19, and 20, 2020 respectively, with a total value of HK$15,000 (US$1,911). The defendant was arrested on Dec. 24 of the same year and subsequently charged with five counts of “criminal damage.”

The defendant was also involved in destroying the exhibits of Falun Gong practitioners with several accomplices on April 3, 2021. The case will be tried on December 8, 9, and 12.

One of the prosecution witnesses, Ms. Chen, a Falun Gong practitioner, practiced the exercises at the Tsim Sha Tsui Pier on the day of the incident and displayed a display board exposing the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution. Wu Oi-man suddenly stepped forward and threw her display board into the sea, and smashed her computer stand.

After the case was adjudicated, Ms. Chen told the Epoch Times that Wu was brainwashed by the CCP’s lies and mistakenly believed that Falun Gong was “illegal,” which made him commit the crime. She said, “Our Falun Gong philosophy is based on truthfulness, benevolence, and forbearance. It is legal everywhere. Even in China, no law says we are an ‘illegal religion.’”

Jiang Zemin, the former leader of the CCP, initiated the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999 and later fabricated a false case of “Tiananmen Self-immolation” to slander Falun Gong. So far, however, neither the CCP’s rubber-stamp legislature nor its top executive body has publicly announced a ban on Falun Gong. The “Notice on Various Issues Regarding Identifying and Banning of Cultic Organizations” promulgated by the CCP authorities in 2000 and 2005 did not mention Falun Gong either.

Ms. Chen also said that she clarified the truth on the street because Falun Gong was persecuted by the CCP. “In the mainland, we have no room to talk about this. In Hong Kong, we tell others that we are wronged. Hong Kong has this freedom.” She rebuked Wu Oi-man and his accomplices for criminal damage against unarmed and kind people, and even older Falun Gong practitioners tried to stop them but were pushed down, “I don’t know how they can bear to do this.”

Since the CCP persecuted Falun Gong, Falun Gong practitioners in Hong Kong have peacefully protested the persecution on the streets and have been harassed and threatened with violence by pro-CCP organizations for a long time. In September 2019, Ms. Liao, a Falun Gong practitioner, held a meeting with the police to discuss the Oct.1 parade. She was beaten by the mob until her head was bleeding. The 22-year-old man Or Hin-cham, who was the lookout, was sentenced to two years and nine months in jail for “intentional wounding” earlier this year.

Case number: WKCC 4068/2021