Hong Kong activist denied early release days after new security law axed eligibility
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong activist Ma Chun-man has been denied early release after being jailed in 2020 over a national security case. He is the first prisoner to be made ineligible for early release after a new domestic national security law was enacted on Saturday.
Citing sources, local media outlets reported on Monday that Ma was expected to be released that day, following a remission of his sentence. However, his detention continued as the Commissioner of the Correctional Services Department (CSD) was unsatisfied that Ma’s early release would not endanger national security.
The new, homegrown security law, which came into effect on Saturday, raised the threshold for national security prisoners to apply for early release. A national security prisoner may not be granted early release unless the CSD commissioner is satisfied that remission “will not be contrary to the interests of national security,” according to the law.
Before the new legislation kicked in, any prisoners with good conduct in jail – unless serving a life sentence – may have enjoyed a one-third reduction of their sentence, according to Prison Rules.
Lee: ‘Never try to endanger national security’
When asked about the imprisonment of Ma, the city’s leader John Lee said during a press conference on Tuesday morning that the new security law had stipulated under which circumstances a national security prisoner might be released early.
“The public should understand that once one is convicted of national security crime, they will not be granted remission of sentence under normal circumstance. No remission of sentence will be a general practice…” Lee said in Cantonese, “It is the message that we want to deliver: never try to endanger national security as there will be no remission of sentence.”
In response to HKFP, the CSD said it will not comment on specific cases but stated that the new national security law has introduced new measures on prisoners’ early release.
“The provisions apply to all prisoners who have been convicted of offences endangering national security and are currently serving sentences, regardless of whether their sentences were imposed before, on the day of, or after the relevant amendments came into effect,” the department said in a written response.
It added that the commissioner will take into account all kinds of factors when considering applications for remission of sentence, such as a personal statement from the prisoner.
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.
5 years imprisonment
Ma, better known as “Captain America 2.0” during the 2019 protests and unrest, has been detained since November 2020.
Protests erupted in June 2019 over a since-axed extradition bill. They escalated into sometimes violent displays of dissent against police behaviour, amid calls for democracy and anger over Beijing’s encroachment. Demonstrators demanded an independent probe into police conduct, amnesty for those arrested and a halt to the characterisation of protests as “riots.”
Ma was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison for inciting secession by making numerous pro-independence speeches in public and online in November 2021.
In August 2022, he won appeal at the Court of Appeal and his sentence was reduced to five year imprisonment.
If Ma is granted reduction of one third of sentence, he will have been released yesterday when he had served 40 months in jail.
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