Case of man accused of sedition under Hong Kong’s Article 23 security law adjourned to await landmark appeal

Hong Kong Free Press

A man charged under a Hong Kong security law over allegedly publishing “seditious” posts online has had his case adjourned to await the verdict of a landmark appeal at the top court.

A man walks past barriers set up outside the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts in Hong Kong, on September 19, 2024. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. — A man walks past barriers set up outside the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts in Hong Kong, on September 19, 2024. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

Chow Kim-ho appeared at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on Monday. The part-time handyman stands accused of publishing seditious posts on Facebook, Instagram and Threads between March and November this year.

The content related to hatred of the Chinese Communist Party and Taiwan independence, among other topics, according to The Witness.

Chow, a former member of pro-democracy party League of Social Democrats, was arrested under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, better known in the city as Article 23, in November and has been held in custody since.

He is the fourth person to be charged for sedition under the homegrown security law.

Chow’s lawyer, Steven Kwan, applied for an adjournment to await the Court of Final Appeal’s handling of a sedition appeal scheduled to be heard on January 10. The outcome of that case could inform Chow’s decision on how to plead, Kwan said.

The top court is set to hear a landmark challenge that day from pro-democracy activist Tam Tak-chi, who was jailed for three years and four months in April 2020 over offences including uttering seditious words and taking part in an unauthorised assembly.

The activist was arrested under the colonial-era sedition law, which was repealed in March when Article 23 was passed into law. The legislation includes sedition offences, which now carry a maximum jail term of seven years instead of two, or 10 years if the offence is found to have been committed in collusion with an “external force.”

Tam is appealing his conviction and sentence. His lawyer is set to argue whether Tam – who was tried in the District Court – should have been tried in the Court of First Instance, where the verdict would have been decided by a jury instead of a judge.

His lawyer will also argue if the prosecution had to prove that the defendant intended to incite others to perform acts of violence or public disorder.

Tam’s appeal will mark the first time the sedition law has been challenged in the top court.

article 23 national security law draft — A draft of Hong Kong’s homegrown national security law. Photo: Hillary Leung/HKFP.

Kwan said the verdict of Tam’s appeal was expected to be announced within a month of the hearing. Chow’s case was adjourned to January 27, and his legal team will have to inform the court by January 21 on how he intends to plead.

Separate to the 2020 Beijing-enacted security law, the homegrown Safeguarding National Security Ordinance targets treason, insurrection, sabotage, external interference, sedition, theft of state secrets and espionage. It allows for pre-charge detention of to up to 16 days, and suspects’ access to lawyers may be restricted, with penalties involving up to life in prison. Article 23 was shelved in 2003 amid mass protests, remaining taboo for years. But, on March 23, 2024, it was enacted having been fast-tracked and unanimously approved at the city’s opposition-free legislature.

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.