Status: 07/30/2021 10:46 am
On Tuesday, the Hong Kong activist Tong was found guilty in the first trial under the controversial security law – for inciting the secession of Hong Kong and terrorism. Now the sentence against him has been announced.
Hong Kong activist Tong Ying Kit has been sentenced to nine years in prison. A court in China’s Special Administrative Region announced the sentence for the 24-year-old after he was found guilty of terrorism and incitement to separatism on Tuesday.
The young man’s trial was the first under the controversial national security law that China is applying against a number of representatives of the democracy movement in semi-autonomous Hong Kong.
Far-reaching consequences for further legal proceedings
On July 1, 2020, just a few hours after the Hong Kong National Security Act came into force, Tong Ying-kit broke a police cordon on his motorcycle and three officers were thrown aside on the ground. Tong also falls and is immediately arrested by several police officers. A video shows what happened. According to the indictment, the police officers were seriously injured. Tong Ying-kit had attached a black flag to the back of the motorcycle with the slogan: “Free Hong Kong! Revolution of our time!”
In particular, the interpretation of the slogan about the liberation of Hong Kong took up a lot of space in the process and is likely to have far-reaching consequences for further court proceedings under the Security Act. The panel of judges evaluated the label in this first trial as a call for Hong Kong to split off from China and thus illegal.
The nine years in prison were well above the three years that the prosecution had requested. The defense had demanded that the sentence should not exceed ten years. The maximum sentence was life imprisonment.
More than 100 arrests citing security law
More than 100 people have so far been arrested on the basis of the law. The enactment of the controversial security law over a year ago sparked violent protests in Hong Kong and around the world. Beijing passed the law after sustained protests in the Chinese Special Administrative Region and calls for more democracy. It is vaguely directed against activities seen as subversive, separatist, terrorist, or conspiratorial. Since then, it has served the authorities to take massive action against the democracy movement in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong National Security Law: First prison sentence announced
Steffen Wurzel, ARD Shanghai, July 30th, 2021 11:14 am