A Hong Kong court on Thursday sentenced a 46-year-old clerk to four months in prison for insulting Chinese President Xi Jinping and calling for the downfall of the Communist Party in a string of online comments.
Prosecutors argued the comments had provoked hatred towards Beijing and the Hong Kong government, as well as incited residents to break the law.
Hong Kong student pleads guilty to sedition over online posts, most made abroad
Hong Kong student pleads guilty to sedition over online posts, most made abroad
Chief Magistrate Victor So Wai-tak, whom city leader John Lee Ka-chiu gave the green light to oversee national security proceedings, said Chow’s remarks posed a challenge to Beijing’s “sovereignty and esteem”.
Chow’s provocation of violence also risked galvanising ignorant people into committing an offence, the magistrate added.
The court handed Chow the four-month sentence after knocking off two months in recognition of his early guilty plea.
While it is not among the offences covered by the Beijing-imposed 2020 national security law, sedition has been ruled by the Court of Final Appeal as capable of endangering the country’s safety.
Prosecutors can ask that cases be heard only by judges approved by the chief executive, and defendants may face a higher bar for bail.
Sedition is punishable by up to two years’ imprisonment for a first conviction.