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National security law: Hong Kong man convicted of inciting secession with pro-independence slogans
- Former food delivery driver Adam Ma was accused of using slogans such as ‘Hong Kong independence, the only way out’ on at least 20 occasions
- District Court judge rejects 31-year-old’s defence that he had not intended for others to put his words into action
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The first person prosecuted under Hong Kong’s national security law for chanting pro-independence slogans in public has been convicted of inciting secession.
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Adam Ma Chun-man faces up to seven years in jail after a District Court judge, hand-picked by city leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to adjudicate national security proceedings, rejected his defence that he never intended for others to put his words into action.
An avid protester who dubbed himself a second-generation Captain America – a reference to a prominent demonstrator who dressed up as the superhero during the 2014 Occupy movement – Ma was the second defendant to stand trial under the Beijing-imposed legislation, which also outlaws acts of subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.
The first was restaurant worker Leon Tong Ying-kit, who was convicted of terrorism and inciting secession after driving his motorcycle into a group of police officers while flying a flag that bore the slogan “Liberate Hong Kong; revolution of our times”.
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Ma, a 31-year-old former food delivery driver, stood accused of promoting separatism on 20 occasions between August 15 and November 22 last year by using expressions such as “Hong Kong independence, the only way out”, “Hongkongers build their country” and the “Liberate Hong Kong” slogan – a signature chant of the 2019 anti-government protests.
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