Hong Kong man who shared online calls to boycott legislative election handed 2-month suspended jail term

An air conditioning repairman has been handed a suspended two-month jail sentence for inciting a boycott against last year’s “patriots only” Legislative Council election.

Photo: Kelly Ho/HKFP.

Appearing before Magistrate Shirley Cornelia Hung at the West Kowloon Law Courts on Friday, Wong Kin-kwok admitted to sharing a Facebook post by overseas activist Alan Keung calling on people not to vote.

Wong was among three people charged with inciting another person not to vote, in violation of the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance, after they shared posts by Keung and another activist Tong Wai-hung.

According to a statement by the Independent Commission Against Corruption, which oversees prosecutions under the ordinance, Wong was sentenced to two months’ imprisonment suspended for two years after pleading guilty.

Whilst it is legal to cast a blank ballot or boycott an election in Hong Kong, it is unlawful to encourage another person to do so during an election period.

In handing down Wong’s sentence, Hung said that the government had invested a significant amount of resources into the election and that it should not have been interfered with.

Magistrate Hung considered that Wong had no prior criminal record and was a first-time offender, adding that his case was an isolated incident involving a single post. There was also no evidence showing he took further action to incite people, such as leaving comments on Facebook.

A voter at a Tai Po polling station for the 2025 LegCo elections, on December 7, 2025. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

In mitigation, Wong’s lawyer submitted that the repairman realised his mistake in carelessly sharing the post. Wong expressed deep remorse and vowed to consider his posts more carefully in the future.

The court also heard that Wong had deactivated his account to prevent any reoffending.

In handing down the sentence, Magistrate Hung accepted that Wong’s actions were not premeditated.

A suspended prison sentence does not take effect right away, allowing the offender to avoid jail time unless they break the law again during a set probationary period.

Patriots only

In a similar case in May, a 67-year-old man was handed a two-month jail term suspended for two years after pleading guilty to sharing a post urging a boycott of the legislative elections.

December’s “patriots only” elections saw a 31.9 per cent turnout, marking an increase from the last legislative polls in 2021, but still the second lowest on record.

The election was the second since Beijing overhauled the city’s electoral system in 2021 to ensure that only those deemed patriotic enough can run.

The move reduced democratic representation in the legislature, tightened control of elections and introduced requirements for candidates to obtain nominations from a small circle of political elites.