Hong Kong man, woman jailed on sedition charges for insulting judges, advocating independence
- Property manager Kim Chiang, 41, is the second person to be jailed under the colonial-era sedition law since China resumed sovereignty over the city in 1997
- The third, former vocational school clerk Chloe Cho Suet-sum, 46, was jailed just hours later over an unrelated case
A man and a woman were jailed on sedition charges on Monday, the former for conspiring to distribute leaflets advocating Hong Kong independence, and the latter for putting up posters insulting the judges in the city’s first national security trial.
Property manager Kim Chiang Chung-sang, 41, was sentenced to eight months in prison by a magistrate at West Kowloon Court on Monday morning, while former vocational school clerk Chloe Cho Suet-sum, 46, was jailed for 13 months at the District Court hours later.
The two are the second and third defendants to be imprisoned under the colonial-era sedition law since China resumed sovereignty over the city in 1997.
Cho’s co-defendant, 17-year-old secondary school pupil Wong Chun-wai, was also ordered to undergo up to nine months of correctional training.
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Explaining his decision to jail Cho in lieu of a fine, District Judge Kwok Wai-kin said the sentence must have a deterrent effect, as required by the national security law, noting the pair’s offence was “very close” to that of inciting secession under the Beijing-imposed legislation. The latter charge is subject to a maximum prison term of 10 years.