Hong Kong protester convicted in first trial underneath Chinese language nationwide safety legislation
Hong Kong — In an historic ruling, a 24-year-old man turned the primary particular person convicted in Hong Kong underneath China’s expansive and contentious nationwide safety legislation on Tuesday. Leon Tong Ying-kit, a former restaurant prepare dinner, volunteered as a medic throughout the 2019 pro-democracy protests that rocked town. He was convicted of terrorism and secession and faces a attainable sentence of life in jail.
A motorcycle, a black flag and a crash
Police arrested Tong on July 1, 2020, simply hours after China’s nationwide safety legislation got here into impact. He was using a motorbike by way of the streets of town, displaying a black flag that fluttered within the wind with the slogan, “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Instances.” He then crashed into a gaggle of policemen. Tong claims he tried to keep away from hitting them.
Critics say China’s legislation, which got here into impact in July final yr, was tailored to deliver Hong Kong’s huge pro-democracy motion to heel. They are saying it’s getting used to crush criticism of the federal government and muzzle freedom of speech — establishments that have been protected or allowed in Hong Kong for many years, in contrast to in mainland China.
The responsible verdict was broadly anticipated by each Hong Kong’s Beijing-backed authorities and pro-democracy activists and their supporters.
The excessive court docket’s three judges have been handpicked by Hong Kong chief government Carrie Lam, who in the end serves with the help of Beijing and the Chinese language China’s Communist Occasion.
Requires secession or freedom of speech?
The last word focus of Tuesday’s listening to was the protest slogan, “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Instances.”
The day after Tong’s arrest final yr, the federal government banned the phrase.
“We’re… positive that the defendant totally understood the slogan to bear the that means of Hong Kong independence and by displaying, within the method he did, the flag bearing the slogan, the defendant meant to convey the secessionist that means of the slogan as understood by him to others and he meant to incite others to commit acts separating the HKSAR (Hong Kong) from the PRC (Individuals’s Republic of China),” the three judges mentioned of their ruling on Tuesday.
“This verdict violates the spirit of the rule of legislation,” the previous pro-democracy politician and activist Nathan Regulation, who at present lives in exile in the UK, mentioned in an announcement. He mentioned that Tong ought to have been entitled to a jury trial, reasonably than one in entrance of “authorities handpicked” judges.
“The judicial system in Hong Kong is weaponized to suppress. Our proper to free expression is severely curtailed,” Regulation mentioned.
The ruling units a precedent for related verdicts to be issued for greater than 60 different pro-democracy activists who’ve been arrested because the nationwide safety legislation took impact, together with former politicians, legal professionals, well being employees, union leaders and a journalist, who’ve been crucial of Hong Kong’s authorities and, by extension, China’s leaders.
Haley Ott contributed to this report.
