Latest news with #Beijing-decreed
The Star
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Star
Two relatives of wanted Hong Kong activist Joseph Tay taken in for questioning
A cousin of wanted Hong Kong activist Joseph Tay and her husband were taken away for questioning on Thursday morning, the Post has learned. A source said the couple were escorted to Tsing Yi police station to assist with an investigation into the Canada-based activist's alleged national security law violations. 'They were expected to leave Tsing Yi police station at around 11am,' the insider said. The source later confirmed that the pair left around that time. Tay, a 62-year-old former actor and founder of Canada-based non-profit Hongkonger Station, was among six activists in December last year who had HK$1 million (US$127,600) bounties placed on their heads for allegedly violating the 2020 national security law. He is among 19 activists wanted on suspicion of contravening the Beijing-decreed legislation. Tay has been charged with inciting secession and collusion with foreign forces after he allegedly posted videos calling for international sanctions on social media platforms via his channel between July 2020 and June last year. The Canadian national left Hong Kong before the national security law came into force. Earlier this year, he stood as a candidate for the Conservative Party in the country's federal elections. Earlier this month, national security police questioned another of Tay's cousins and the relative's wife. - South China Morning Post
South China Morning Post
15-04-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong court rejects appeal by head of dissolved party over secession charge
A Hong Kong court has dismissed an appeal by the head of a now-dissolved pro-independence political party, ruling that minimum sentences apply to all conspiracy offences under the national security law even when the penalty is not explicitly provided. Advertisement The Court of Appeal on Tuesday handed down a judgment that rejected Joseph John's request to review his five-year jail sentence for conspiracy to incite secession through the publication of offensive content on the social media platforms of the Hong Kong Independence Party. The three presiding judges found the lower District Court correctly labelled the case as serious, warranting a jail term of at least five years for the 42-year-old under a two-tier sentencing regime. The appellate court set a benchmark over a contentious topic surrounding the Beijing-decreed legislation, which could affect the outcome of other proceedings, while also weighing in on a high-profile trial of 47 opposition activists. John, a UK resident who holds a Portuguese passport, was denied a full one-third reduction of his 6½-year sentence which would otherwise be awarded to defendants pleading guilty at the earliest opportunity. Advertisement The national security law stipulates a prison sentence of five to 10 years for a serious offence of inciting secession, but provides no express mechanism for penalising a conspiracy to commit the crime. Prosecutors levelled the charge by invoking the national security law and the colonial-era Crimes Ordinance, which outlines the principles for sentencing conspiracy offences. One requirement is that sentences should match the gravity of the substantive crime.
South China Morning Post
08-04-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
4 convicted in Hong Kong 47 trial to be freed on April 29 at earliest: sources
Four former Hong Kong lawmakers convicted in a landmark subversion case involving 47 activists will be released as early as April 29, becoming the first batch of defendants to be freed following the city's largest and longest-running national security trial, the Post has learned. Advertisement Gary Fan Kwok-wai, Kwok Ka-ki, Jeremy Tam Man-ho and Claudia Mo Man-ching, each of whom was sentenced to four years and two months in prison last November, have been in custody on remand since March 2021. Sources said on Tuesday that the four would be released 'as early as April 29' and planned to 'remain low-key and decline media interviews' upon their release. Fan, 58, is serving his term in Shek Pik Prison, while his fellow lawmakers Kwok and Tam – aged 63 and 49, respectively – are in Stanley Prison. Mo, 68, is being held at the Lo Wu Correctional Institution. They were among the 45 former politicians and activists convicted of and sentenced for conspiracy to subvert state power under the Beijing-decreed national security law for their involvement in an illegal legislative 'primary' election in 2020. Advertisement The four, who pleaded guilty to the subversion charge and received the lightest jail term, are expected to be released on April 29 despite not being allowed to have their sentence cut by a third as set out in the city's Safeguarding National Security Ordinance.
South China Morning Post
18-03-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong to hold next Legislative Council election on December 7
Hong Kong will hold its second Legislative Council election under the revamped 'patriots-only' electoral overhaul, on December 7, according to the city's leader. Advertisement Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Tuesday also said that he had instructed the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau to create comprehensive deployment and emergency plans to ensure the elections are held smoothly. '[The bureau] was asked to work closely with the Electoral Affairs Commission to do proper planning and come up contingency plans on areas such as publicity, recruitment and training of electoral staff, arrangement of voting and ballot counting, data system and security,' Lee said ahead of his meeting with the government's key decision-making Executive Council. He expressed hope that the eighth term of the Legco election, held every four years, would be conducted in a fair, just and honest manner. He also hoped the election would pick out 90 lawmakers who 'love the country, love Hong Kong, have the ability and commitment' to serve the public. Advertisement Under the Beijing-decreed electoral shake-up to ensure only 'patriots' hold political power, the legislature was expanded from 70 to 90 seats, with the lion's share of 40 seats going to the Election Committee constituency, picked by the powerful body predominantly occupied by Beijing loyalists which also elects the city's leader. Thirty seats were allocated to the trade-based functional constituencies, while the number of directly elected lawmakers returned in the geographical constituencies was slashed from 35 to 20.
South China Morning Post
21-02-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong judges challenge jailed political party chief's appeal argument
Two Hong Kong judges hearing an appeal by the head of a now-dissolved pro-independence political party have questioned his lawyer's argument that the national security law cannot be used for sentencing some conspiracy offences. Joseph John, 42, appeared before three Court of Appeal judges in the High Court on Friday to challenge his five-year jail sentence for conspiracy to incite secession. He admitted last year to circulating 42 posts on the Hong Kong Independence Party's social media platforms, which called for the placement of American and British troops in the city and the abolition of the Sino-British Joint Declaration. The agreement paved the way for Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. In sentencing, District Judge Ernest Lin Kam-hung set a starting point of 78 months imprisonment, but declined to award a full one-third discount to John as defendants in other criminal cases would have received. The judge instead reduced the sentence to five years, the statutory minimum for a serious offence of inciting secession. The Beijing-decreed legislation stipulates a maximum of 10 years imprisonment for inciting secession. It does not provide a mechanism for penalising a conspiracy to commit the same offence. Instead, conspiracy offences are punished in accordance with the colonial-era Crimes Ordinance.
