District Courtroom Choose Stanley Chan dominated in October that former supply man Ma Chun-man, 31, was responsible of inciting secession because of the slogans he chanted, placards he held and the statements he made to media.
“The defendant was incited by some politician and he finally turned an instigator himself,” Chan stated, with out naming the politician. “On this context, it is exhausting to ensure there will not be different Ma Chun-mans.”
Ma had pleaded not responsible and didn’t testify.
One among his legal professionals, Chris Ng, advised reporters he was unsure whether or not Ma would attraction.
“I don’t really feel any remorse,” Ma wrote in a letter to the choose, which he signed together with his nickname.
“On my street to democracy and freedom, I am unable to afford to be a coward,” he stated within the letter, a part of which was learn out in court docket earlier than he was sentenced to 5 years and 9 months in jail.
The legislation punishes something China sees as subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with overseas forces with as much as life in jail and has been broadly criticized as a device to purge political opponents and crush particular person freedoms.
Beijing maintains rule of legislation, and all rights and freedoms stay intact and says the laws was wanted to plug loopholes in nationwide safety and finish the often-violent unrest, which it says was fomented by overseas forces.
Ma’s conviction was the second below the legislation.
Within the first, former waiter Tong Ying-kit, was jailed for 9 years. He had ridden a bike into a bunch of policemen, displaying the slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our occasions,” which the court docket dominated was “able to inciting secession”.
Tong, who was additionally convicted of terrorism for allegedly utilizing his bike as a weapon, is interesting.
In Ma’s case, the court docket was proven movies of him chanting “Hong Kong Independence, the one means out”. A pocket book titled “Captain America’s Diary of Resistance” was additionally seized.
One other protection lawyer, Edwin Choy, referred to as for lenience earlier than the sentencing, saying Ma’s slogans and chants have been empty phrases with no nice impression. Ma didn’t commit violent acts and was not somebody who would promote violence, Choy stated.
Greater than 100 individuals, together with lots of the metropolis’s most distinguished opposition politicians and activists, have been charged below the safety legislation. Most have been denied bail.
