A man from Hong Kong has been held in detention following charges of sedition, allegedly due to posting on social media encouraging others not to vote or to submit invalid ballots in the upcoming election.“patriots only” legislative elections.
Lam Chung-ming, aged 68, appeared at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on Thursday afternoon, facing a single charge of “knowingly distributing materials with seditious intent.”
As per the police, hewas arrested on Tuesdayon the grounds of repeatedly sharing material on social media that not only fueled hostility against the Hong Kong government, the courts, and police forces, but also encouraged individuals to refrain from voting or to submit invalid ballots in an election.
Local news outlets reported on Thursday that the prosecution requested a delay to allow police additional time for further inquiry.
Law enforcement officials took two computers and three mobile devices from Lam’s home, stating they require additional time to examine the material to determine if further offenses were committed.
Chief Judge Victor So, who is assigned to handle national security cases, rejected Lam’s request for bail and directed that he stay in custody until his next court hearing on December 30.
Hong Kong officials have taken action against efforts to cast invalid votes and organize boycotts of the Legislative Council (LegCo) elections scheduled for December 7. This marks the second legislative election to be held in the city.overhauled its electoral systemin 2021 to guarantee that only loyal citizens are eligible to run.
A total of 161 applicants are competing for 90 positions across the geographical, functional, and Election Committee constituencies.
See also: Hong Kong’s anti-graft authority accuses three individuals of promoting calls to boycott ‘patriots-only’ elections
The national security law imposed by Beijing does not include sedition, as it focuses on secession, subversion, collaboration with foreign entities, and terrorism, with the highest possible punishment being life in prison.
It had been illegal under the colonial-era Crimes Ordinance, carrying a maximum sentence of two years in prison. This law was abolished in March 2024, when Hong Kong introduced its own security legislation, commonly referred to asArticle 23 legislation, which increased the maximum punishment for sedition to seven years in jail.
Apart from the 2020 Beijing-implementedsecurity law, the homegrown Safeguarding National Security Ordinancetargets acts of treason, rebellion, destruction, foreign interference, sedition, theft of state secrets, and spying. It provides forpre-charge detentionas long as 16 days, andsuspects’ access to lawyersmay be limited, with consequences includingup to a life sentence. Article 23 was shelvedin 2003, during widespread demonstrations, it remained a sensitive topic for many years. However, on March 23, 2024, it was finally passed into law.fast-trackedand was unanimously accepted by the city’s non-opposition legislature.
The law has has faced criticism from human rights NGOs, Western states and the UNas vague, broad, and “regressive.” Officials, however, mentioned supposed foreign involvement and a constitutional obligation to “close gaps” following the2019 protests and unrest.
