Hong Kong nat. security police arrests man over ‘seditious’ pro-independence messages on social media
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong national security police have arrested a 63-year-old man over alleged “seditious messages,” including calls for the city’s independence, on social media.
According to the police, the man – who was apprehended in Tsim Sha Tsui on Monday – was suspected of publishing online content “several times” that incited the overthrowing of the Central government as well as hatred towards the Central and Hong Kong authorities.
He also allegedly advocated Taiwan independence and Hong Kong independence, and “desecrated” the national flag and national anthem.
National security police searched the man’s home and office with a court warrant, where officers seized electronic devices that were used to publish the “seditious messages.”
The 63-year-old was detained for investigation.
The sedition law is separate from the Beijing-imposed national security law, which was enacted in June 2020 after a year of protests and unrest against a controversial extradition bill.
A colonial-era legislation, the sedition law was unused for over half a century until its revival in March 2020, when police arrested then-district councillor Cheng Lai-king over a social media post that revealed the identity of a police officer who was accused of blinding a journalist during a protest. Cheng, a member of the Democratic Party, was arrested for suspected “seditious intentions” but was later charged with breaching an injunction banning the doxxing of police officers.
In July 2021, Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Tam Tak-chi became the first person to stand trial on sedition charges since the city’s handover from Britain to China in 1997. Tam was found guilty on 11 charges including “uttering seditious words” and sentenced to 40 months in prison.
The law has been repeatedly used to arrest or charge those accused of endangering national security over the past three years, among them two former editors of media outlet Stand News and members of a pro-democracy union who published “seditious children’s books.”
Sedition offences carry a lower penalty, with a maximum of two years’ jail compared to life imprisonment for those charged under the security law.
Offenders of both, however, face a higher bail threshold and are often remanded in custody after being charged. The sedition law has also seen more frequent use than the national security law.
As of late May, 251 people have been arrested over suspected acts and activities that endanger national security since the enactment of the national security law, according to the Security Bureau.
The figures include those apprehended under the national security law and for alleged sedition offences. The bureau, however, has declined to share a breakdown.
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