Critics say authorities in the Chinese financial hub have used the sedition offence, which has roots in British colonial rule, to target government critics and suppress dissent. | Photo credit: AFP
Hong Kong police said on Saturday (August 31, 2024) that two men have been arrested on sedition charges under a new national security law, accusing them of inciting hatred against Chinese and local authorities.
The arrests on Friday came a day after pro-democracy news outlet Stand News and two former editors were found guilty of treason, the first convictions of their kind since the city came under Chinese rule in 1997.
Critics say authorities in the Chinese financial hub have used the sedition crime, which has roots in British colonial rule, to target government critics and suppress dissent.
A 41-year-old man and a 28-year-old woman were arrested on Friday for allegedly committing “acts with seditious intent” and are in custody, police said in a statement.
Hong Kong media reports said the arrests were made in connection with a note widely circulated on social media this week following the murder of a university professor on railway tracks.
The writer expressed thoughts of suicide due to despair over Hong Kong’s future. AFP is unable to verify the identity of the person who wrote it.
Police said the woman was suspected of “fraudulently publishing the ‘last words’ of the deceased in connection with a recent suicide case.”
Police said the man was accused of placing “memorial light boxes” in various locations whose contents “incited hatred” towards the governments of Beijing and Hong Kong.
The new national security law passed in March, commonly known as Article 23, increased the maximum prison term for treason from two years to seven years.
It is Hong Kong’s second national security law and follows one imposed by Beijing in 2020 following huge, sometimes violent pro-democracy protests a year earlier.
These protests led to a crackdown on freedom of expression, with China’s critics being imprisoned or forced into exile
The United States and Britain are among the vocal critics of the new law, saying it curtails rights.
As of August 1, 301 people had been arrested for national security offences under various laws.
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