Hong Kong police arrest six activists accused of sedition

If these six are convicted of sedition, they could face up to two years in prison

File: Vice chairman of Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, Leo Tang Kin-wah, fourth from right, attends a news conference in Hong Kong on 19 September 2021 (AP)

Hong Kong police have used a colonial-era sedition law to arrest six activists for suspected sedition and have raided their homes.

The suspects, four men and two women aged between 32 and 67 years old, were arrested on Wednesday and accused of causing a “nuisance” at court hearings in December and January.

Local media reported that those arrested included Leo Tang, a former vice chairman of the now-disbanded Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) and citizen journalist Siew Yun-long.

They were charged with committing an “act or acts with seditious intent” — an offence under the Crimes Ordinance, the city’s criminal code.

The HKCTU was once the largest independent trade union but after the contentious national security law was passed in 2020, it became one of the dozens of groups that have been forced to disband.

Police raided the homes of the activists and claimed to have seized records of conspiracy to cause “nuisance” in court as evidence.

The six were accused of “affecting jurisdictional dignity and court operations” at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts and the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts between December 2021 and January 2022.

The government issued a statement on Wednesday and said the activists’ acts “severely affected jurisdictional dignity and court operations”.

The arrests seem to be a part of the crackdown by the Hong Kong administration to nip political dissent in the bud after massive pro-democracy protests had engulfed the city in 2019.

Most of the city’s outspoken activists and pro-democracy campaigners have been prosecuted by the state and have been put behind bars.

If the six arrested on Wednesday are convicted of sedition, they could face up to two years in prison.

Police said the suspects were being held for questioning.

The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), an international alliance of lawmakers, said the arrests were “absurd” and likened the frequent use of the charge of sedition to a “pocket crime”.

“Not only are these charges wrong and to be condemned, but they also demonstrate how far the rule of law has deteriorated in Hong Kong,” the IPAC said in a statement.

“It is absurd that mere applause during a court case can be construed as a seditious act. The seditious intention charge has become the ‘pocket crime’ of the city, used as a blanket charge to crack down on all forms of dissent and political opposition in the city.”

The body, that works on reform for the way other countries approach China, said “targeted sanctions” must be used against Chinese and Hong Kong officials who promised to uphold the city’s freedoms and autonomy.

“We also reiterate our appeal for all overseas judges to withdraw from serving on Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal in this further undermining of the independence and integrity of Hong Kong’s legal system,” the IPAC added.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam announced she won’t be running for a second term in office after a controversial tenure.