Councillors fined HK$7,000 for Sai Ying Pun meeting

Four Central and Western district councillors were each fined HK$7,000 by Eastern Court on Friday, after they admitted to violating social distancing rules in Sai Ying Pun in August last year.

Fergus Leung, Sam Yip, Jordan Pang and Napo Wong had been opposed to the use of Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park Sports Centre as a coronavirus testing laboratory.

The sports centre was chosen to host the government’s two-week long universal testing programme, set up with the help of mainland health officials. The exercise tested just over 1.78 million people, with 32 infected people identified.

The group said at the time they were having a special district council meeting outside the sports centre.

But they were issued tickets fining them for violating a ban on gatherings of no more than two people under anti-epidemic measures introduced to stem the spread of Covid-19.

Another district councillor, Cheng Lai-king – who chairs the Central and Western District Council – pleaded not guilty.

Eastern Court has adjourned her case until August 30.