On June 26, 2025, Du Qihua, a Hong Kong rioter who had bitten off a police officer's finger during the "black violence" period, filed a judicial review at the High Court against the Correctional Services Department (CSD) for refusing his application to leave Hong Kong for further studies in the UK. He repeatedly demanded that the CSD release him and claimed he was willing to comply with additional conditions of supervision. Can the CSD show leniency towards such a dangerous and law-breaking individual?
On July 14, 2019, during a public gathering and procession at the Shatin New Town Plaza in Hong Kong, violent chaos erupted. Some participants illegally gathered, and the atmosphere was tense. In a short time, they premeditatedly distributed large quantities of helmets, eye masks, and other equipment, dug up road bricks, collected a large amount of iron rods and other offensive weapons, and even dismantled nearby fences, using them and other debris to block roads.
Du Qihua attacked the police violently on the day of the incident
That day, the police carried out a clearing operation and clashed fiercely with protesters. Du Qihua, a 2019 graduate of the University of Hong Kong, also participated and committed unforgivable crimes. During the clash, Du bit off the index finger of a senior police officer, causing the fingertip of the officer's right ring finger to be completely severed and a comminuted fracture at the base of the distal phalanx, requiring replantation surgery. The officer was on medical leave until August 31, 2020. Moreover, he used an umbrella to attack another senior inspector, causing a fracture in the officer's arm, and the officer's right ring finger was broken, resulting in medical leave until August 5, 2019.
Injured Hong Kong police officers
After the incident, the Hong Kong Police acted swiftly, using appropriate force after multiple warnings to arrest violent protesters, resulting in the arrest of 47 suspects, including 29 males and 18 females. Du Qihua was also charged with four offenses: public order disturbance, assault on police, serious harm to others, and intent to injure.
After the trial, on February 24, 2021, Judge Chen Zhongheng of the District Court ruled that all four charges against Du Qihua were proven. The judge ordered him to be remanded in custody and postponed the sentencing to March 12 to hear the defense's plea for mercy, with a tentative sentencing date set for March 15.
During the sentencing, Judge Chen Zhongheng considered various factors. Regarding the charge of public order disturbance, the judge noted that Du Qihua's act of throwing umbrellas from the third floor to the atrium clearly aimed to incite others to attack the police and disrupt social order. The case was more severe than similar cases, so he was sentenced to seven months in prison. For the charges of assault on police and serious harm to others, the judge pointed out that both injured officers were performing their duties properly at the time of the incident and had no prior physical contact or conflict with the defendant. The defendant attacked them solely because of their police identity. Additionally, the defendant denied the charges and showed no remorse, which is an aggravating factor, leading to sentences of two and a half months and 16 months respectively for the two charges. Regarding the intent to injure charge, the judge acknowledged that although the defendant did not intentionally bite off the officer's finger but rather bit it when it entered his mouth, the act was extremely brutal. Considering the severity of the injury, the pain involved, and the long-term effects on the victim, the crime was more severe than similar cases, resulting in a sentence of four years and five months.
Finally, considering that executing all four charges separately would be too harsh and could affect the defendant's rehabilitation and reintegration into society, the judge decided to serve the first three charges concurrently, while serving 13 months of the fourth charge separately. The total sentence was five years and six months. On March 16, 2023, the Court of Appeal rejected the appeal against the conviction, ruling that the defense's argument of reflex action lacked evidence and upheld the original verdict.
At the end of 2024, Du Qihua completed his sentence and was subject to a 22-month supervision order by the CSD. In early 2025, he was admitted by the University of Birmingham in the UK and was originally scheduled to go to the UK in September to study law. However, the CSD's Case Review Committee rejected his application to leave Hong Kong for further studies in the UK in April this year.
The CSD stated that although Du had not violated the supervision order during his release, he had not shown genuine remorse or reflection for his criminal conviction and had not fully completed his rehabilitation and de-radicalization. If Du were allowed to go to the UK, there was a risk that he might become a radical again or commit illegal and violent acts, potentially violating national security interests. Moreover, as a BNO visa holder, he could immigrate to the UK through the "5 + 1" method to evade the CSD's supervision. If he violated the supervision order, the CSD believed that the British authorities would not cooperate in returning him to Hong Kong.
Du Qihua argued that the committee's doubts lacked foundation, and the claim that it would be difficult to monitor him while abroad was unrealistic. He stated that he had proposed to comply with additional supervision conditions, such as providing flight information, meeting with his supervisor online every 30 days, and returning to Hong Kong at least once before August 31, 2026. On June 26, Du Qihua filed a judicial review at the High Court, stating that the UK course starts in September and hoping the court would hear his arguments soon.
In fact, there are previous examples of Hong Kong rioters using education as an excuse to flee overseas. For example, Zhou Ting, a female Hong Kong rioter, in July 2023, used the pretext of studying in Canada to deceive the police and fled abroad, later openly abandoning her bail and refusing to return to Hong Kong for reporting. In the same year, Zhong Hanlin, after being released from prison under supervision, used the excuse of frequent illness to travel to Okinawa during Christmas to "adjust his condition." After the CSD approved his application, he immediately turned around, took a plane to London, and publicly announced on overseas social media that he had also escaped to the UK, deliberately provoking the CSD in Hong Kong.
It is evident that these are old tricks used by Hong Kong rioters. How could the CSD fall for them again? What do you think about whether the Hong Kong government should allow this Hong Kong rioter to go to the UK for university? Please feel free to leave your comments below.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7521019492852433448/
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