A Hong Kong man is jailed 3 months for sedition for wearing a T-shirt with a protest slogan
HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong man was sentenced to three months in prison on sedition charges for wearing a T-shirt with a slogan printed on it.
Chu Kai-pong, 26, pleaded guilty to two counts of sedition for the slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times” that was printed on his T-shirt. It refers to a battle cry of 2019 pro-democracy protests that were crushed by authorities launching a crackdown on dissent.
Chu also was in possession of flags that bore similar slogans, authorities said.
The protest slogans was outlawed in 2020 by the Hong Kong government, which said that anyone using can be prosecuted for inciting secession, a more serious offense. Hundreds of activists have been arrested since the central government in Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law in Hong Kong in 2020.
Chu was arrested at Hong Kong airport in November after he was spotted wearing the shirt with the slogan ahead of his flight.
During the sentencing, the chief magistrate said that Chu had knowingly broken the law because he purchased the items in Taiwan. However, the magistrate also said that compared to spreading messages online, Chu’s actions were “less penetrative” because the slogans were only displayed for a short time.
Hong Kong has in recent years relied on the colonial-era sedition law to crack down on opposition. First-time offenders face up to two years in jail.