The first person to be sentenced under the new security law in Hong Kong.
Chu Kai-pong was found guilty of donning a “seditious” t-shirt.
According to DW, a new law has dramatically raised the penalties for actions deemed seditious by the courts.
Chu Kai-pong’s wearing of a “seditious” t-shirt resulted in his conviction. Penalties for actions judged by the courts to be seditious have been significantly increased by a new law.
For several months in 2019, demonstrators occupied the streets of Hong Kong, demanding greater independence and autonomy from Beijing
A Hong Kong man was sentenced to 14 months in prison on Thursday, making him the first person to be convicted under a strict new national security law.
Chu Kai-pong, 27, was arrested for wearing a t-shirt reading: “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times.”
The day he chose to wear the shirt was also seen as significant. Not only was the slogan used by anti-government protesters during a wave of demonstrations in 2019. he wore it on June 12, the fifth anniversary of the day demonstrators surrounded the city’s legislative council complex.
Authorities claimed that the slogan advocates for Hong Kong’s separation from China, which Beijing views as unacceptable.
Chu entered a guilty plea to performing an act of seditious behavior in court on Monday. He has received jail time for a provocative t-shirt for the second time in less than a year.
Prior to the new security law going into force in March, he was sentenced to three months in prison in January under a law dating back to the colonial era.
At that point, he was sporting a shirt bearing the acronym “FDNOL,” which stands for “Five demands, not one less,” another protest catchphrase.
Chu was described as “evidently unwilling to reform” by Chief Magistrate Victor So.
