American lawyer is sentenced to prison in Hong Kong after scuffle with police officer
The IndependentSign up to Simon Calder’s free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calder’s Travel email Get Simon Calder’s Travel email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy An American corporate lawyer was sentenced to prison in Hong Kong on Tuesday for assaulting a plainclothes police officer in 2019, during the pro-democracy protests in the city. In Tuesday’s sentencing, Magistrate Arthur Lam called Bickett’s acts “a serious threat to public order,” citing multiple injuries suffered by the police officer. Unrest flared in Hong Kong in June 2019, prompted by an extradition bill that residents feared would remove the firewall between the city’s courts, based on English common law, and China’s judicial system, which answers to the ruling Communist Party. In response, the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities moved to curb the city’s freedoms, most notably through a national security law imposed last year, an overhaul of the electoral system, and the freezing of assets belonging to pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, which led to its shutdown.
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US lawyer back in Hong Kong jail over police assault
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