Hong Kong court denies jailed social worker leave to appeal 2019 rioting conviction

A Hong Kong court has rejected a jailed social worker’s appeal against her rioting conviction linked to the 2019 protests and unrest.

Social worker Jackie Chen outside the District Court in Hong Kong on March 11, 2025. File photo: Hillary Leung/HKFP.

The High Court on Thursday refused to allow Jackie Chen to appeal her rioting conviction, for which she is serving a jail term of three years and nine months.

Court of Appeal Judge Derek Pang said the grounds for her appeal were not “reasonably arguable.”

Chen’s lawyers argued that the prosecution had failed to provide enough evidence to prove that she had communicated with protesters, encouraged them at the scene, or intended to participate in a riot.

But Judge Pang dismissed the argument, saying such questions had been dealt with during the trial.

He cited the trial judge’s finding that Chen had encouraged protesters by making “unfounded allegations” against the police through a megaphone during a standoff between the two groups.

The High Court. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

He said Chen could still take her appeal to a committee formed by three Court of Appeal judges, but warned that she may have to serve extra time in prison if her bid is rejected again.

Her lawyer, Chris Ng, told reporters after the hearing on Thursday that Chen had abandoned her appeal against her sentence.

Conviction following retrial

Last year, Chen, who was frequently seen on the front line of the 2019 protests with a megaphone, was convicted of rioting, following a retrial.

The social worker was initially cleared of the rioting charge midway through her first trial in September 2020, but the government successfully appealed her acquittal.

See also: Hongkongers acquitted in 2019 protest cases face lengthy legal battle after gov’t appeals

She pleaded not guilty when she faced the retrial in December 2024, but was convicted in March 2025 – over five years since the protest took place.

The trial judge, Deputy District Judge May Chung, said in the ruling that Chen had made “fictitious” allegations about police when she spoke through the megaphone during the protest, which took place on August 31, 2019, near Hennessy Road and Luard Road in Wan Chai.

Protest scenes in Wan Chai on August 31, 2019. File photo: May James/HKFP.

Chen was heard telling police not to carry out a “big chase and killing” during the demonstration, which Chung found to be “clearly” untrue.

Chen’s continuous shouting “roused the emotions of those gathered to be more hostile to police,” Chung ruled.

Protests erupted in June 2019 over a since-axed extradition bill. They escalated into sometimes violent displays of dissent against police behaviour, amid calls for democracy and anger over Beijing’s encroachment. Demonstrators demanded an independent probe into police conduct, amnesty for those arrested and a halt to the characterisation of protests as “riots.”