HONG KONG – A pro-democracy Hong Kong radio DJ was convicted of seditious speech today under a British colonial-era law that authorities have embraced as China flattens dissent in the business hub.
Tam Tak-chi, 49, is among a growing number of activists charged with sedition, a once little-used law that prosecutors have dusted off in the wake of massive and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Tam’s trial was the first since Hong Kong’s 1997 handover in which a sedition defendant fought his case by pleading not guilty and went through a full trial.
Two previous prosecutions were wrapped up after guilty pleas.
As a result, Tak’s conviction is a legal watershed because it sets precedent for a host of upcoming sedition prosecutions as China remoulds Hong Kong in its own authoritarian image.
Better known by his moniker “Fast Beat”, Tak hosted a popular online talk show that backed democracy and was highly critical of the government, often using colourful language.
He was a regular presence at protests and often set up street booths to deliver political megaphone speeches.
Prosecutors focused on the street booths with Tam convicted on seven counts of “uttering seditious words” as well as other charges such as disorderly conduct and disobeying a police officer.
Authorities said Tam incited hatred against the authorities by chanting the popular protest slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times” 171 times, cursing the police force some 120 times, and repeatedly shouting “Down with the Communist Party”.
Sedition is separate from the sweeping national security law that Beijing imposed on Hong Kong in 2020.
But it is treated by the courts with the same severity and there are plans to make sedition one of a number of new national security crimes later this year. – AFP, March 2, 2022
