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Hong Kong veteran activist Koo Sze-yiu sentenced to 9 months in jail for planning to display coffin bearing slogans outside Beijing’s liaison office

  • Koo, unfazed by judge’s ruling, vows to become a ‘martyr’ for democracy and human rights despite the risk of jail
  • ‘I have no regrets for the path I took. I shall rise again every time I fall, without the least bit of repentance,’ 75-year-old says

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A veteran activist has been jailed for planning a protest outside the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in Hong Kong. Photo: Dickson Lee

Veteran Hong Kong opposition activist Koo Sze-yiu has been jailed for nine months for attempting to protest against the Chinese Communist Party ahead of the Beijing Winter Olympics earlier this year.

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A magistrate, hand-picked by the city leader to oversee national security cases, on Tuesday convicted the 75-year-old based on a colonial-era sedition law for planning to publicly display a handcrafted coffin emblazoned with slogans and political demands, a protest routine he had established over his years of activism.

Koo Sze-yiu has been sentenced to jail for planning a protest. Photo: K. Y. Chen
Koo Sze-yiu has been sentenced to jail for planning a protest. Photo: K. Y. Chen

The defendant appeared unfazed at the verdict at West Kowloon Court, as he vowed to become a “martyr” for democracy and human rights despite the risk of jail following the adoption of the national security law.

“I have no regrets for the path I took. I shall rise again every time I fall, without the least bit of repentance,” he said in his mitigation statement. “Democracy and human rights are above everything. The rights of a human are bigger than a country.”

Koo, who has 14 previous convictions, is expected to be eligible for early release next month, having been remanded in custody since February because of the present case.

The veteran activist was charged with attempting to or preparing to commit an act or acts with seditious intention, which is punishable by up to two years in jail for a first offence under the Crimes Ordinance.

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