President of dissolved Hong Kong Independence Party gets 5 years’ jail for secession offence tied to online posts
- Joseph John, a UK resident of Portuguese nationality, sentenced to five years in jail for conspiring to incite others to commit secession
- Judge Ernest Lin says John ‘twisted history’, ‘demonised the Chinese government’ and called for fundraising to pay for mercenaries
District Court Judge Ernest Lin Kam-hung on Thursday said Joseph John, 41, had “twisted history”, “demonised the Chinese government” and called for fundraising to pay for mercenaries, among other ideas which included abolishing the Sino-British Joint Declaration, the agreement that paved the way for Hong Kong’s return to Chinese sovereignty.
“For anyone who has a slight understanding of history, these suggestions do not follow historical facts, are not reasonable and do not make sense,” the judge said.
“It also clearly shows his ignorance towards the international political environment.”
According to a summary of facts earlier admitted to by John, a UK resident of Portuguese nationality, the Hong Kong Independence Party was founded by a European citizen in 2014 and registered as a political party in Britain a year later.
The summary document noted the party said on its website that its main aim was to support the Hong Kong people in their struggle for self-determination, awakening them to the importance of safeguarding their identity as a “national group”, as well as aiding them in nation-building and returning to the British Commonwealth.
