#NSL: A Hong Kong court on Friday increased a jail sentence to five years, in line with a China-imposed national security law, for a student who called for independence from China in posts on the Telegram messaging service. reuters.com/world/china/ho…
Lui Sai-yu, 25, an engineering undergraduate at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, was charged with inciting secession in April 2021 with messages calling for "acts to be taken to unlawfully change the regime" in Hong Kong.
He has been in detention since September 2020, after police raided his flat and found a pepper ball gun, meant for firing irritant powder for self-defence, an extendable police baton, two military knives and protective gear.
Judge Amanda Woodcock had originally sentenced him to 3 years and 8 months after his guilty plea led to a one third reduction.
But prosecutor Ivan Cheung said the crime Lui committed was of a serious nature and must fall within sentencing guidelines in the security legislation. Woodcock then increased it to 5 years.
Cheung said the sentencing should be not less than 5 years but not more than 10 years according to the security law and warned the judge to be careful of the appealable areas.
"If your finding that the defendant's conduct is of serious nature, you can give a reduction in sentencing. It cannot fall below the five-year imprisonment," Choy said.
Lui's lawyer, Edwin Choy said the original sentencing has already reflected the serious nature of the offense he committed.
"One eleven reduction as opposed to one-third reduction. That kind of calculation is not an ideal scenario," Choy said."We are talking about sentencing justice."
Choy told Reuters they were considering an appeal.
Lui himself had told the judge in a mitigation letter that his original intention was to let the voice of people be heard.
"It was difficult for an energetic and idealistic young man to keep completely uninvolved", Lui wrote, referring to the 2019 protests.
"My love for Hong Kong was no less than anyone else's."
"I see no reason to now revisit my finding on the nature of the circumstances of the offence and decide it is of a minor nature because the circumstances have not changed," Woodcock said in her judgment.
"I repeat, on the facts I found the circumstances of the offence committed by the defendant to be of a serious nature. I stand corrected and agree that Article 21 does impose a minimum term of imprisonment depending on the finding of the court."
In a scarred Hong Kong, “beautiful things are gone”.
Remembering what happened in 2019 has become more important than ever.
One year after China imposed the #NSL, we speak to six different Hong Kong people on how they’re keeping the city's memories alive. widerimage.reuters.com/story/in-a-sca…
Democracy activists charge that those in power are trying to take control of the narrative, and they fear that future generations will hear only the government’s version of events.
📷: Reuters/Lam Yik
It’s not only a battle over the narrative: Since the protests died down last year, the city’s very landscape has changed, leaving familiar places unfamiliar.
📷: Reuters/Lam Yik
Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai and nine other pro-democracy activists are expected to be sentenced on Friday after they were found guilty of participating in unauthorised assemblies during #HongKongProtests in 2019. reut.rs/2Q5JToJ
Lai was found guilty in two separate trials earlier in April for illegal assemblies on Aug. 18 and Aug. 31 2019, respectively. He is scheduled for two more court mentions, including collusion with a foreign country and a fraud case.
In the Aug. 18 case, District Court judge Amanda Woodcock found him guilty together with Martin Lee, Margaret Ng, Lee Cheuk-yan, Albert Ho, Leung Kwok-hung, Cyd Ho, Au Nok-hin and Leung Yiu-chung. The latter two had pleaded guilty.
In an interview with Reuters in May, Lai pledged to stay in Hong Kong and continue to fight for democracy. “What I have, this place gave me, I will fight on till the last day. It will be (an) honour if I ... sacrifice,” said Lai, choking up at times. reut.rs/2XdxGiw
Police is searching Apple Daily’s Office. According to the Apple Daily’s livestream, police said they'll collect personal information and job nature of all staff. #NationalSecurityLaw
Nearly a year after Henry and Elaine were first arrested, the newlyweds were tried on charges of rioting, an offense carrying a penalty of up to 10 years in jail. We followed them as they braced for a life apart and learned their fate today.reut.rs/30W88Hx#HongKo…
During the demonstrations, protesters gave Henry the nickname Fu Tong, which means “to go through water.” Elaine was nicknamed Dou Fo, which means “to go through fire.” Literally, the names mean they’ll go through fire and water together.
They didn’t know Natalie before the arrest. Police were firing rounds of tear gas at the time they found her. After helping Natalie to rinse her eyes with saline water, they tried to leave. The trio were arrested by riot police in front of a barbed-wire fence and were tried tgt.
Heavy riot police presence before the start of the first major protest against Beijing’s controversial plan to directly impose national security laws in HongKong. #HongKongProstests
@HKDemocrats members and lawmakers Lam Cheuk Ting and Andrew Wan said they are just here to sell the raffle tickets, they have the right to sell the tickets here as it’s approved by the Home Affairs Department. #HongKongProstests
“Now it’s the beginning of the end and time is really running out in Hong Kong, and that’s the reason for us, even though there’s an outbreak of the COVID-19, we still need to be gather on the street to protest,” said activist @joshuawongcf. #HongKongProstests
A group of protesters set alight on Sunday the lobby of a newly built residential building in Hong Kong that authorities planned to use as a quarantine facility, as public fears about the coronavirus outbreak intensified. #WuhanCoronavirus#WuhanPneumoniareut.rs/2RJJRzu
The lobby of the newly built residential building, that the government planned to use as a quarantine facility, was set on fire by the protesters earlier on. Credit: Tyrone Siu. #antielab#hongkongprotests#WuhanCoronavirus#WuhanPneumonia