Chu Kai-pong, 27, pleaded guilty to ‘act with seditious intent’ for displaying slogan ‘Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times’
A man in Hong Kong has pleaded guilty to sedition for wearing a T-shirt with a protest slogan, becoming the first person to be convicted under the city’s controversial national security law known as Article 23,, the maximum sentence for the offence has been expanded from two years to seven years in prison and could even go up to 10 years if “collusion with foreign forces” is found to be involved.
Chu, who has been held in prison for three months, told police that he wore the T-shirt to remind people of the protests, the court heard. Chief magistrate Victor So, handpicked by the city’s leader, John Lee, to hear national security cases, adjourned the case to Thursday for sentencing.in 1997 under Beijing’s promise its freedoms, including freedom of speech, would be protected under a “one country, two systems” formula.punishing secession, subversion, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison, after the months-long protests in the financial hub.
Critics, including the US government, have expressed concerns over the new security law and said the vaguely defined provisions regarding “sedition” could be used to curb dissent. The new law expands the British colonial-era offence of sedition – which has also been increasingly used against dissidents - to include inciting hatred against China’s Communist party leadership.
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