A former Hong Kong opposition lawmaker has been cleared of obstructing his political rivals during a chaotic Legislative Council meeting in the lead-up to the 2019 anti-government protests.
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West Kowloon Court on Thursday found insufficient evidence to show Lam Cheuk-ting interfered with Legco proceedings over a contentious extradition bill.
The defendant might also have positioned himself at the centre of clashes between the two rival camps in order to understand the situation and express concern for the health of a veteran lawmaker, who was appointed to preside over the meeting on May 11, 2019.
Lam, 48, thanked the presiding magistrate for acquitting him and waved to supporters in the public gallery after the verdict.
The Democratic Party ex-lawmaker is currently serving a combined jail sentence of nearly 10 years in three unrelated cases, including a high-profile national security trial.
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He has denied two counts of “assaulting, obstructing or molesting” a member within the precincts of the Legco chamber for allegedly interfering with his then-colleagues Holden Chow Ho-ding and Ben Chan Han-pan, both affiliated with the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong.