{
  "id": 13081908,
  "title": "Gov’t loses appeal against acquittal of former lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting over 2019 protest charge",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/09/govt-loses-appeal-against-acquittal-of-former-lawmaker-lam-cheuk-ting-13081908",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-09T09:25:28.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Hong Kong Free Press",
    "slug": "hong-kong-free-press-hongkongfp",
    "url": "https://hongkongfp.com/2026/10/09/govt-loses-appeal-against-acquittal-of-former-lawmaker-lam-cheuk-ting-over-2019-protest-charge/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Hong Kong's Department of Justice has faced a setback after losing an appeal against a lower court's decision to acquit former lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting on a charge of perverting the course of justice. The three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal upheld a previous ruling, finding Lam and two co-defendants not guilty of the charge. The case stems from a July 6, 2019 confrontation during a protest at Tuen Mun Park, following large-scale demonstrations that had begun months earlier. The prosecution alleged that Lam and the others pressured a man, referred to as X in court, to delete photos on his phone. Protesters had suspected X of taking close-up photos of them during a July 1, 2019 protest outside the police headquarters in Wan Chai. While Lam was charged with perverting the course of justice, another co-defendant, Aggie Chung, was facing charges of criminal damage and accessing a computer with dishonest intent. A third co-defendant, journalist Ronnie Tsang, also faced perverting the course of justice charges along with unlawful assembly. All charges against Tsang were acquitted by a District Court judge in January 2023. In his January 2023 ruling, District Court judge Douglas Yau stated that Lam was attempting to act as a peacemaker to defuse a tense situation and ensure X's safety. The Court of Appeal judges agreed with the lower court's decision, arguing that while deleting images could obstruct police investigations, there was no concrete evidence confirming the existence of such photos. Lam, a former member of the now-defunct Democratic Party, is currently serving a six-year and nine-month prison sentence following his conviction in the Hong Kong 47 case, the city's largest national security trials.",
  "summary": "Hong Kong’s Department of Justice (DoJ) has lost its appeal against a lower court’s decision to acquit former lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting of a perverting the course of justice charge linked to the 2019 protests and unrest. A panel of three Court of Appeal judges delivered the judgment on Friday, upholding a previous ruling that found […]",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Hong Kong Free Press",
        "title": "Gov’t loses appeal against acquittal of former lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting over 2019 protest charge",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/09/govt-loses-appeal-against-acquittal-of-former-lawmaker-lam-cheuk-ting",
        "published": "2026-10-09T09:25:28.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}