3 days ago
HK Arrests 18-Year-Old for Writing ‘Seditious Words' in Bathroom
(Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong police arrested an 18-year-old on suspicion he left what they called 'seditious' messages in a bathroom, adding to a recent series of national security actions that signal authorities' continued efforts to curb dissent.
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The man is accused of being 'involved in writing seditious words in a commercial building toilet on three separate occasions,' the government said Wednesday. The content allegedly provoked hatred and disaffection against the government and incited others to defy the law.
The move is the latest in a flurry of enforcement actions against perceived threats to the Chinese state in the former British colony. Hong Kong is seeking to burnish its status as a finance hub after its image took a hit from strict pandemic controls and clampdown on political freedoms.
Earlier this month police arrested four men for allegedly advocating independence for the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. In June, local authorities took their first known joint operation with Beijing's security officers to investigate a case of alleged foreign collusion.
Police also banned a Taiwanese video game that month for allegedly calling for armed revolution.
In its Wednesday statement, the National Security Department of the police charged the man for carrying out 'with a seditious intention an act or acts that had a seditious intention,' a crime that's punishable by up to seven years of imprisonment on first conviction.
The offense is defined in the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, commonly known as Article 23, which was fast-tracked into domestic law last year. It's been invoked in addition to the Beijing-imposed National Security Law of 2020, which authorities used to detain and imprison dozens of leading democracy activists.
The Hong Kong government didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
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