A Hong Kong man convicted on charges of sedition and insulting the national anthem has won his appeal and will not have to serve the remainder of his training centre order.
The High Court. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.Chui Hoi-chun, 21, appeared at the Court of Appeal on Thursday, more than two years after being released on bail while awaiting his appeal hearing.
Chui was sentenced to a training centre in December 2022 after pleading guilty to four offences, including “doing an act or acts with seditious intentions” under the colonial-era law, intending to insult the national anthem by intentionally publishing “altered lyrics,” and intentionally publishing “a desecration of the national flag” with intent.
A training centre is an alternative to imprisonment for young offenders. The length of the sentence, decided by the head of the Correctional Services Department and dependent on the offenders’ conduct, ranges from six months to three years.
Chui was 18 years old when he was convicted.
On Thursday, lawyer Steven Kwan said that others convicted of similar offences to his client had only been jailed for eight weeks or handed a community service order, according to Ming Pao.
Lawyer Steven Kwan arrives at West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on September 19, 2024. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.In contrast, Chui was remanded for two and a half months before being convicted, and then served seven months in a training centre after being sentenced, Kwan said.
The court ruled in favour of Chui, throwing out his training centre order.
Chui was convicted under the old colonial-era sedition law, which carries a maximum prison term of two years.
The law was repealed last year when authorities passed the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, also known as Article 23. The legislation is a local security law separate from the one enacted by Beijing in June 2020 after the anti-extradition protests and unrest.
The maximum penalty for sedition offences under the new law is seven years, or 10 years if the offender is found to have colluded with an “external force.”
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