The Hong Kong University Students’ Union Council passed a motion to "grate" Liang Jianhui, the suspect in the July 1 assassination last month. The National Security Department of the police arrested four members this morning (18th) for allegedly violating Article 27 of the "Hong Kong District National Security Act" for "promoting terror." The crime of doctrine".
After the police identified the July 1 assassination case as a "lone wolf-style local terrorist attack," many citizens brought flowers to mourn, and once called the suspects "martyrs" and "righteous men" on online social platforms.
Tang Jiahua, a member of the guild and senior counsel, said that it is difficult to generalize whether the situation is illegal, but the key is the intention of the behavior and whether it achieves the effect of promoting terrorism.
Tang pointed out that titles such as "martyr" have the meaning of praise, that is, hope to promote the concept of behavior so that more people can do it; and expressing opinions on social platforms can achieve the effect of publicity and have the opportunity to be prosecuted.
▼On July 9th, the HKU Student Union secretary will apologize and resign ▼
Put flowers to mourn or be involved in terrorist acts
The guild member and Senior Counsel Tang Jiahua said that the key to this case is the members of the Hong Kong University Student Union Council who publicly praised the sacrifices of the July 1 attackers through a motion.
He pointed out that the term "sacrifice" represents an act of giving up life for justice, reflecting that the act of "terrorism" is regarded as a just act. The council will publish the motion on social platforms, which has the meaning of promoting and advocating "terrorism".
The police later identified the July 1 assassination as a "lone wolf-like local terrorist attack." Some citizens once brought flowers to the scene to mourn the suspect.
Tang Jiahua pointed out that Hong Kong is a region under the rule of law. The court will make the final judgment on whether an incident is classified as terrorism. However, if the incident meets the legal definition, the police can carry out law enforcement and prosecution. If anyone promotes or intends to identify terrorism Acts have the opportunity to violate Article 27 of the National Security Law and involve the promotion of terrorist crimes.
He pointed out that whether mourning the citizens involved in violation of the law cannot be generalized. "Putting flowers" may just agree with terrorist acts and may not have the intention to promote it. "If there is no media report, no one may know."
However, if someone uses media reports to express their approval, they will have the opportunity to involve the definition of "propaganda" in the ordinance.
The guild member and Senior Counsel Tang Jiahua said that the key to this case is the members of the Hong Kong University Student Union Council who publicly praised the sacrifices of the July 1 attackers through a motion.
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Online said the suspected culprits are "martyrs" and "righteous men" praising terrorism for a chance to be prosecuted
Many netizens posted posts on social platforms, calling the suspects "martyrs", "righteous men", "heroes", etc.
Tang Jiahua believes that these words can be regarded as "praising" terrorist acts, that is, hoping to promote the concept of behavior so that more people can do it and have a chance to be prosecuted.
As for the promotion of this kind of information on personal social platforms, Tang believes that there are different ways of publicity, such as posting on the Internet, expressing information to the society through the media, and expressing opinions on social media, etc., all of which can achieve the effect of "preaching" and "preaching the meaning." It’s you passing the message to another person." Regardless of whether the number of people involved is one person or 1 million people, as long as you want the other party to recognize, accept, and imitate, it falls within the definition of "propaganda" in the regulations.
If the public expresses it in a satirical way, or derogates the police officer involved, is it also a "praise" of terrorism?
Tang Jiahua believes that the way of expression is not the point. If anyone promotes or intends to make others identify with terrorist acts, they have the opportunity to be involved in promoting terrorism.
If there are private messages of citizens "praising" the suspected murderer, screenshots are taken and circulated on social platforms.
Tang Jiahua believes that it depends on whether the person has criminal intent, "If someone likes to step on the line, no one will sympathize with you."
July 1 assassination case | National Security Department detained 4 members of the Hong Kong University Student Association for crimes of promoting terrorism Blocking students will miss the opportunity to participate in school administration
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