Court lifts anonymity order for Hong Kong barrister accused of molestation

A Hong Kong court has lifted a temporary anonymity order and ruled that a barrister cannot keep his identity hidden in criminal proceedings over allegations that he twice molested a former pupil nine years ago.

Eastern Court’s Principal Magistrate David Cheung Chi-wai ruled the media could report the name of the defendant, Simon So Shun-yan, who was accused of molesting the pupil at a flat in Sai Ying Pun on August 30, 2017.

The 32-year-old barrister represented himself at a hearing on Monday and argued that his request to conceal his identity was intended to protect the complainant, who was in an unofficial pupillage with him at the time.

So had earlier been permitted by the court to use the letter “A” to temporarily conceal his name.

The barrister told the court he had not yet been admitted to the bar in 2017, meaning the complainant was not his pupil in the formal sense of the word, though he was supervising a group of juniors who referred to him as their “master”.

According to the Hong Kong Bar Association, So was called to the bar in 2018. He founded his own chambers in the same year.

So argued that the complainant could be easily identified by piecing together the timeline and his followers, saying “basically it was impossible to not be able to identify that person”.