Hong Kong activist jailed for sedition

HONG KONG: A Hong Kong activist with terminal cancer was jailed Friday for attempted sedition over plans to protest against China’s political clampdown with a coffin.

Koo Sze-yiu, 78, is among the handful of outspoken government critics still remaining in the city after Beijing crushed Hong Kong’s huge and sometimes violent democracy protests nearly five years ago.

Chief magistrate Victor So on Friday sentenced Koo to nine months in prison for “attempted sedition” — the second time the veteran activist was hit with the charge.

Koo was planning to stage a demonstration last December opposing local elections, which excluded pro-democracy candidates, prosecutors earlier told the court.

National security police arrested him on December 8, hours before the protest was scheduled to take place.

The magistrate ruled on Friday that a prop coffin made for the event by Koo “symbolized death ... (and) overthrowing the central government.”

The protest, if held, would have encouraged the public to reject the election results and foster resistance, the magistrate added.

A defiant Koo told the court he wanted to be a “martyr for democracy and human rights” before being led away, according to local media.

The longtime activist has been jailed at least 12 times since 2000. In 2022, Koo was given a ninemonth jail sentence for attempted sedition over plans to demonstrate against Beijing’s hosting of the Winter Olympics.

Sedition, a colonial-era offense dating to the days of British rule, lay dormant for decades before Hong Kong authorities revived it in 2020.

It has since been used to target dozens of government critics — in many cases, criminalizing remarks made on social media.

Hong Kong is also undertaking public consultation on a new national security law, which includes a proposal to widen the scope of “sedition” to protect more Chinese and Hong Kong state institutions.

This homegrown legislation, if passed, would exist on top of a sweeping national security law that Beijing imposed on Hong Kong in 2020 to quell dissent.