Hong Kong: Prison sentence for wearing slogan T-shirt is ‘blatant attack’ on freedom of expression

Hong Kong man is first to be sentenced under repressive new law

The Government must stop using ‘sedition’ laws to silence dissent

‘Chu Kai-pong has committed no internationally recognised crime and he must be released immediately’ - Sarah Brooks

In response to today’s sentencing of Chu Kai-pong in Hong Kong to 14-months in prison for wearing a “seditious” T-shirt and mask - the first person to be charged, convicted and sentenced under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s China Director, said:

“Just when you thought the human rights situation in Hong Kong couldn’t get any bleaker, a man is condemned to more than a year in prison just because of the clothing he chose to wear. This is a blatant attack on the right to freedom of expression.

“The conviction and sentencing of Chu Kai-pong over his choice of clothing also highlights the sheer malice of Hong Kong’s new Article 23 law, which expands the Government’s powers to punish so-called ‘seditious’ acts.

“Chu Kai-pong is the first person convicted under this legislation, but its vague wording, vast scope and repressive nature leaves Hong Kongers fearing that he will not be the last. We once again urge the Hong Kong authorities to repeal this law.

“The Government must also end its use of ‘sedition’ laws to crack down on dissent under the pretext of protecting ‘national security’. Chu Kai-pong has committed no internationally recognised crime and he must be released immediately.”

Prison for protest slogan

Chu Kai-pong was sentenced under section 24 of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, the new national security legislation enacted in March this year based on Article 23 of the city’s Basic Law for “an act or acts that had a seditious intention”.

He was arrested on 12 June, the anniversary of the 2019 anti-extradition protests, for wearing a T-shirt bearing the 2019 protest slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times”, and a yellow mask printed with the letters “FDNOL”, the abbreviation of another protest slogan “Five Demands, Not One Less”. He has already been detained for more than three months and denied bail. He was also charged with two other offences: loitering and failure to produce proof of identity for inspection, but these were dropped after he pleaded guilty to the sedition charge.

Under section 24 of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, a person convicted of sedition can be imprisoned for seven years. If they are found to have colluded with an “external force”, the maximum sentence is increased to 10 years; previously the offence was punishable by up to two years in prison. According to Amnesty’s records, 12 people have been arrested for sedition – and three charged – under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance since its enactment.