The man, 27-year-old Chu Kai-pong, pleaded guilty to “sedition” in a Hong Kong court on Monday because he was wearing a T-shirt with a protest slogan on it.
Chu is the first person to be convicted under China's new national security law, which was imposed on Hong Kong in March.
Chu's crime was wearing a T-shirt that read, “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Time.” slogan A large-scale pro-democracy movement that took place in 2019.
Chu was also wearing a mask with the word “FDNOL” written on it. slogan The 2019 uprising gave rise to five demands known as the “Five Demands, None Less.” The first of the five demands was the complete withdrawal of the controversial extradition bill that sparked the protests.
Chu was arrested while wearing a shirt and a mask at a MTR subway station on June 12, one of the most significant anniversaries of the 2019 pro-democracy movement. Police said Chu was wearing the mask to remind people of the protests.
In Hong Kong, remembering these protests is a crime. The Communist regime in Beijing has crushed the pro-democracy movement. Imposing The tyrannical “National Security Law” enacted by extrajudicial means in 2020 criminalizes anything that the Communists see as a threat to their power, including calls for freedom and democracy.
In March 2024, Hong Kong's legislature, once a vibrant forum for debate, is now a hollow rubber stamp embodying the Chinese Communist Party's agenda. Passed The “National Security Law” aimed to “close” “loopholes” in Beijing's laws, primarily to add more thought and speech crimes to the list China created in 2020 and to increase penalties for violators.
For example, the “sedition” charge for which Chu was charged has increased the maximum sentence from two to seven years in prison, but it could be as much as 10 years if prosecutors find the defendant guilty of “colluding with foreign forces” as well. all A democratic movement stimulated and guided by a foreign government, especially the United States.
In the first trial of Hong Kong's puppet government under China's “National Security Law” in 2020, protest slogans such as “Liberate Hong Kong, the Revolution of Our Times” were found to be “separatist” and “inflammatory” in nature.
Chu's lawyer Claimed The slogan written on the mask, “Five Demands, None Less,” was not deemed inflammatory; police could not even prove whether witnesses on June 12 understood the meaning of “FDNOL,” and Chu only wore the mask and T-shirt for a total of 25 minutes.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, pointed to Chu's four previous convictions, including one in which he received a three-month prison sentence for wearing the exact same “Liberate Hong Kong” slogan on a T-shirt.
Kiss It worked One transaction He pleaded guilty to sedition in exchange for dropping other charges, including loitering and failing to produce identification when questioned by police. Supervised An article by Victor So, the judge handpicked by Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee to handle “national security law” cases.
