Five Citizens' Radio activists admitted yesterday they had deliberately breached a High Court injunction last year by going back on air - which they called civil disobedience.
Lawmaker Long Hair Leung Kwok-hung, Tsang Kin-shing, Lo Hom-chau, Poon Tat-keung and Yang Kuang pleaded guilty in the Court of First Instance to contempt of court charges.
Mr Justice Michael Hartmann, who described the case as unusual, said he intended to fine the five although Jat Sew-tong SC, for the government, told the court that a deliberate breach usually attracted a jail term. The judge will announce the penalty this morning.
The five apologised to the court, saying they had not intended to show contempt but felt they had a higher obligation to promote residents' fundamental rights and to pressure the government to amend the telecommunications law.
Mr Justice Barnabas Fung Wah issued an injunction on January 10 last year temporarily barring the unlicensed station from going on air. But Citizens' Radio resumed broadcasting that evening. A few days later, on January 18, Hartmann refused to continue the injunction, saying the broadcasting did not pose a danger to society, but said the activists were in contempt of court.
All the defendants yesterday said they had committed a technical breach of the order. They said the broadcast on January 10 was to urge more people to march on January 13 to fight for universal suffrage.
Hartmann said non-compliance with a High Court order amounted to contempt of court, regardless of any honourable objective. Saying that civil disobedience had an honourable role in history, he noted the breach had been a tactical decision.

The government applied for the injunction after Magistrate Douglas Yau Tak-hon ruled on January 8 last year that the radio licensing regime under the Telecommunications Ordinance was unconstitutional. He dismissed unlicensed broadcasting charges against Citizens' Radio. At the prosecution's request, Yau suspended his ruling.
During the illegal broadcast, Emily Lau Wai-hing, Lee Wing-tat, Lee Cheuk-yan, Albert Chan Wai-yip and Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung took part as guest speakers. They were not charged with contempt. Copyright (c) 2009. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.