Читать книгу Rebel City - South China Morning Post Team - Страница 23

While Hongkongers were growing increasingly concerned about losing their freedoms, Chan was about to regain his. As the opposition to Lam was mounting, he pleaded guilty to the money-laundering charges and on April 29, 2019, was jailed for 29 months. The sentence was backdated to the time of his arrest, and with good behavior, he would be eligible for release that year.

On October 23, 2019, Chan emerged from the maximum-security Pik Uk Correctional Institution in Clear Water Bay to face a Hong Kong in turmoil.

It had been a month since Lam had withdrawn the bill supposedly inspired by his crime, yet the chaos it had unleashed was still in full swing.

Chan bowed before the media crowd waiting for him. He apologized to Poon’s family and the people of Hong Kong, saying: “I am willing, for my impulsive act and the things I did wrong, to surrender myself to Taiwan to face sentencing.”

He said he hoped this would give Poon’s family some relief and that her soul could rest in peace. He also thanked his own parents: “Even though I’ve made the worst mistake, they still care for me, support me and won’t give up on me.”

Then he begged Hongkongers for forgiveness, bowed a second time and left in a white seven-seater vehicle, without taking questions from the dozens of reporters present.

Watching Chan’s release on television, Poon’s father told friends the scenes deeply saddened the family and reminded them all over again of the senseless killing of their only daughter. A family friend said Poon’s father just wanted “things to be over as soon as possible” – and for justice to be served.