HONG KONG - Bubble-tea shop owners jailed after publishing anti-vaccination messages online. An IT worker arrested over posting the political slogan"Liberate Hong Kong" on social media. A 67-year-old apprehended simply for applauding a court defendant.these acts have been considered crimes in the former British colony, which once protected free speech.
The ordinance defines sedition as speech or publications bringing hate or contempt to"Her Majesty, her heirs or successors" or the government. Sedition now accounts for about a quarter of all 215 arrests by the national security police division created by the China-imposed law. Last month, the United Nations Human Rights Committee called on Hong Kong to repeal its sedition measure, saying it was curtailing citizens'"legitimate right to freedom of speech".
The Justice Department added in an emailed statement that"the sedition offence is consistent with the relevant provisions of the Basic Law and the Hong Kong Bill of Rights on the protection of human rights".since the city returned to Chinese rule when he was handed a 40-month sentence in April, which he is appealing. His arrest came just two months after Beijing imposed its security law in June 2020.
Sedition's maximum two-year sentence, compared to life under the Beijing-imposed national security law, also allows authorities to handle more cases without clogging up resources. "It also helps to counter popular feelings in Hong Kong that the colonial era was better," said Mr Steven Tsang, director of SOAS China Institute. British flags were common features at now-banned pro-democracy rallies, despite citizens being also denied universal suffrage in the pre-1997 era.