Hong Kong teen arrested for allegedly writing ‘seditious words' in commercial building toilet
The 18-year-old was arrested in Kowloon on Monday on suspicion of 'doing with a seditious intention an act or acts that had a seditious intention', the National Security Department of the police force said in a statement on Wednesday.
He will be brought to the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts on Wednesday afternoon to face one count of sedition charge, as well as three counts of criminal damage.
According to the police, the messages were deemed to have provoked hatred, contempt or disaffection against the constitutional order and the executive, legislative or judicial authorities in Hong Kong. The contents also incited other people to commit illegal acts, the police alleged.
'Police remind members of the public that 'doing with a seditious intention an act or acts that had a seditious intention' is a serious offence. Offenders shall be liable to imprisonment for seven years on first conviction. Members of the public are urged not to defy the law,' the statement read.
Sedition was originally outlawed under the colonial-era Crimes Ordinance and carried a maximum penalty of two years in prison. However, the law was repealed after sedition was incorporated into Hong Kong's domestic security legislation, the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance — enacted in March 2024.
More commonly known as Article 23 legislation, the ordinance is separate from the Beiing-imposed national security law enacted in 2020. The homegrown legislation targets treason, insurrection, sabotage, external interference, sedition, theft of state secrets and espionage. It allows for pre-charge detention of up to 16 days, and suspects' access to lawyers may be restricted, with penalties involving up to life in prison. Article 23 was shelved in 2003 amid mass protests, remaining taboo for years. But, on March 23, 2024, it was enacted having been fast-tracked and unanimously approved at the city's opposition-free legislature.
The law has been criticised by rights NGOs, Western states and the UN as vague, broad and 'regressive.' Authorities, however, cited perceived foreign interference and a constitutional duty to 'close loopholes' after the 2019 protests and unrest.
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