Yuen Long attack: Hong Kong court grants bail to opposition lawmakers charged over 2019 protests

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HONG KONG: A Hong Kong court granted bail to two opposition lawmakers on Thursday (Aug 27) over protests in July last year, one of whom was charged for rioting during an incident in which he was attacked by a mob wielding sticks and poles.

Democratic lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting was charged alongside six others in relation to some of the most violent scenes of last year's protests, when a white-shirted mob attacked protesters, journalists and bystanders at a train station in the Yuen Long district, near the border with China.

They were all granted bail by the court on Thursday. Their case was adjourned to Oct 12.

Lam had livestreamed the Jul 21, 2019 attack on Facebook, and was hospitalised after the attack. He was arrested on Wednesday along with lawmaker Ted Hui.

Journalists take photos and videos of a police van which is believed to carry Democratic Party lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting to West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts, in Hong Kong. (Reuters/Tyrone Siu)

Hui was charged with criminal damage along with three others for their roles in a protest on Jul 6 in the Tuen Mun district. Their case was adjourned to Nov 6.

That protest had come amid rising anti-Beijing sentiment when protesters marched against the "noise pollution" caused by middle-aged women singing and dancing to pop songs in Mandarin, the language spoken in China. Hong Kong people speak mainly Cantonese.

Police said Hui forcefully took a phone from someone filming protesters.

Dozens of Hong Kong pro-democracy politicians and activists gathered outside the court and chanted "Shame on political prosecution," and "it's absurd that the victim becomes the defendant".

Police Commissioner Chris Tang rejected the accusation, telling reporters: "We do not intend to rewrite history."