Hong Kong man jailed 14 months under new security law for ‘seditious’ online statements
Hong Kong Free Press
A Hong Kong court has convicted a third person under a new security law, sentencing him to one year and two months in prison for sedition over statements made on social media platforms.
Au Kin-wai, 58, appeared before Chief Magistrate Victor So at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on Friday, where he pleaded guilty to one count of “knowingly publishing publications that had a seditious intention” over statements he made online.
He was charged on June 21 over posts on social media platforms Facebook, X, and YouTube calling for the dissolution of the Chinese Communist Party, and for Chinese president Xi Jinping and Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee – both of whom he dubbed “dictators” – to step down.
He also invoked a Cultural Revolution-era slogan: “Revolution is no crime, to rebel is justified.”
Au was charged under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, known locally as Article 23. Separate to a national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020, the new legislation came into effect on March 23 after it was fast-tracked by the city’s opposition-free legislature. An early attempt to pass Article 23 in 2003 ended in failure after mass protests.
Au’s lawyer Steven Kwan said on Friday that he would withdraw a constitutional challenge on the law’s limitations on free speech, after the city’s top court last month allowed a similar challenge but not on the grounds that the sedition law imposed a disproportionate restriction on free speech.
Limited effect
Kwan on Friday contended that the court had to consider the minimal impact of Au’s actions, saying that most of Au’s 200-odd posts were repetitive, and that he only had about 20 followers on all four of his social media accounts. The counsel asked the court not to give too much weight to the protection of society as a sentencing factor, considering the defendant’s limited reach.
However, So ruled that the court had to power to consider public safety in sentencing, as the concept fell within the scope of national security. The fact that Au made the posts with accounts under his real name was an indication that he had no regard for the law, So ruled.
“The element of deterrence in sentencing aims to prevent others from copying the crime… which is a general sentencing principle long established,” So said.
So set the starting sentence at 18 months and added three months for further deterrence, having taken into account Au’s prior conviction for sedition last December. Au was afforded a one-third sentence discount – the maximum given to a defendant for a timely guilty plea – bringing his sentence down to 14 months.
Third Article 23 conviction
Au is the third person to be sentenced for sedition under Article 23. On Thursday, Chung Man-kit was jailed for 10 months after pleading guilty over “seditious” bus graffiti, and Chu Kai-pong was sentenced to 14 months for sedition over wearing a T-shit with 2019 protest slogan.
Under Article 23, sedition carries a maximum penalty of seven years in jail, or 10 years if the offender is found to have colluded with an “external force.” The offence was previously punishable by up to two years in prison for a first offence, and up to three years for re-offenders.
The new legislation also raised the threshold for the early release of those imprisoned for offences endangering national security. Typically, prisoners can trim a third off their sentence for good behaviour.
The law has been criticised by rights NGOs, Western states and the UN as vague, broad and “regressive.” Authorities, however, cited perceived foreign interference and a constitutional duty to “close loopholes” after the 2019 protests and unrest.
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