(Bloomberg) -- A Hong Kong man pleaded guilty to one charge of sedition for wearing a T-shirt with a protest slogan, marking the city’s first conviction under its new national security law.
Chu Kai-pong on Monday admitted to committing an act with a seditious intention, an offense carrying as long as ten years in jail under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance passed in March, local news outlet i-Cable reported.
That legislation, known as Article 23, bolstered the city’s security toolkit, after Beijing imposed a law in 2020 that’s been used to suppress dissent in the former British colony.
The 27-year-old was arrested in June for wearing a T-shirt with the slogan “Liberate Hong Kong; revolution of our times,” as well as a yellow mask with the wording “FDNOL” — short for “five demands, not one less.” That phrase was used by protesters during anti-government demonstrations that rocked the financial hub in 2019.
That unrest prompted Beijing to crackdown on political opposition, with scores of pro-democracy activists now facing security charges that carry a maximum penalty of life in prison. Among them is former tycoon Jimmy Lai, who will take the stand to defend himself in November over collusion charges, while 45 others such as former student leader Joshua Wong are waiting sentencing on subversion convictions.
Chu, who has no known political background, was previously sentenced to three months in prison for wearing a T-shirt with the same slogan, under a colonial-era law that also criminalized sedition.
That charge carried a maximum sentence of two years for first-time offenders, but the penalty was raised to as much as a decade under Article 23. He will be sentenced Thursday.
--With assistance from Josh Xiao.
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