Hong Kong man convicted of secession files first legal challenge against Article 23 law

Ex-delivery worker Adam Ma – known as the ‘second-generation Captain America’ – asks High Court to order his immediate release

Reading Time:2 minutes

Adam Ma (pictured in October 2020) has demanded the High Court order his immediate release. Photo: Brian Wong

Published: 2:49pm, 24 Jun 2024Updated: 9:10pm, 24 Jun 2024

A man convicted of inciting secession has filed the first legal challenge against Hong Kong’s domestic national security law, claiming a decision to bar his early release from prison is unfair and a violation of his fundamental rights.

Former food delivery worker Adam Ma Chun-man asked the High Court to order his immediate release after the prison service declined to grant him a good behaviour reduction on his five-year sentence on the grounds that a contrary decision would not be in the nation’s interests.

As a general rule, a prisoner’s sentence can be cut by a third for good conduct while in custody.

But the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, mandated under Article 23 of the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution, stipulates that a prisoner convicted of national security offences “must not be granted remission” unless the commissioner of correctional services is satisfied the move will not compromise national security.

In a writ made available for public inspection on Monday, Ma’s lawyers said authorities’ discretion bestowed by the new law was so wide and uncertain it was prone to abuse.

They said national security offenders would have no realistic prospect of early release for reasons inconsistent with their reformation and social rehabilitation.

The writ also argued the new threshold effectively introduced an “ideology conversion” scheme to coerce conformity to the government’s views and policies against one’s dignity.