Hong Kong activist Koo Sze-yiu completes prison term over plan to protest opposition-free local election
Hong Kong Free Press
Veteran Hong Kong activist Koo Sze-yiu has been released from jail after completing a nine-month sentence over a planned protest against last year’s overhauled District Council race.
Koo finished his jail term and was released from Stanley Prison on Friday. Fellow activists had intended to collect Koo, but the police arranged a taxi to return Koo to his residence, HKFP learnt.
HKFP has asked police whether the arrangement was due to the T8 typhoon signal that was in force at the time.
Veteran activist Koo was arrested last December, days before the District Council election, over a plan to protest the overhauled race. The election was the first since authorities slashed the number of democratically elected seats and allowed only candidates deemed “patriots” to run, effectively shutting the opposition camp out of the race.
Koo pleaded not guilty to “attempting or preparing to do an act with a seditious intention.” He was said to have planned to visit the Registration and Electoral Office (REO) to protest against pro-democracy candidates not being able to take part in the race, and had notified an office employee in advance. The protest did not take place as he was apprehended hours before.
During the trial, an officer from the National Security Department of the police said officers had seized a black coffin, a white plastic board, press invitations, a hammer and other items from Koo’s residence after arresting him.
Koo was convicted in February and jailed for nine months. He had already been detained for around two months since his arrest late last year as he was denied bail. Under Article 23, the city’s homegrown security law which passed in the “patriots-only” Legislative Council in March, he was denied the one-third discount that is customarily applied to inmates for good behaviour, HKFP learnt.
The veteran activist has done numerous stints in jail over protests. During the trial, he told the court he was ready to accept his “14th conviction.”
In July 2022, he was jailed for nine months, also for sedition, over a planned demonstration against the Winter Olympics in Beijing that year. He told police he had prepared slogans such as “democracy and human rights are above the Winter Olympics.”
Prior to the passing of Article 23, sedition offences carried a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment under a colonial-era legislation. Now, sedition is punishable under the homegrown security law by up to seven years, or 10 years if the offence involves foreign forces.
Support HKFP | Policies & Ethics | Error/typo? | Contact Us | Newsletter | Transparency & Annual Report | Apps
Help safeguard press freedom & keep HKFP free for all readers by supporting our team
