A Hong Kong activist with terminal cancer was jailed on Tuesday July 12 for attempted sedition after planning a protest against the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Koo Sze-yiu, arrested on February 4, the opening day of the Beijing Olympics, after announcing his intention to demonstrate in front of the Beijing liaison office in Hong Kong, was sentenced to nine months in prison.
Long list of imprisoned activists
The 75-year-old man was charged the next day with "
attempting or preparing to commit an act or acts with seditious intent
".
Judge Peter Law ruled that this “
serious
” case required a deterrent sentence.
The longtime activist was defiant in court, saying "
imprisonment is part of (his) life
".
“
I don't mind being a warrior for the democracy movement, and I don't mind being a martyr for democracy and human rights
,” he said.
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Koo Sze-yiu joins a long list of activists imprisoned as part of Hong Kong's crackdown on dissent, launched through a national security law after major pro-democracy protests in 2019. Although the sedition cited in this case dates from the colonial era, the courts now approach these cases with the same severity as acts endangering national security.
“The Chinese government has destroyed freedom”
Koo Sze-yiu's lawyers argued that the planned protest was an exercise in free speech and that the sedition charge was unconstitutional.
But, according to the magistrate, the slogans on the placards, which read "
down with the Communist Party and the one-party dictatorship
", were aimed at overthrowing the regime and risked reigniting a discontent with the Beijing government already at the heart of the 2019 movement.
"
The Chinese government has destroyed freedom and democracy in Hong Kong
," he reacted to the announcement of his sentence, before criticizing Beijing's treatment of dissidents in mainland China, citing opaque trials and long prison sentences.
"
Compared to what they are going through, my sacrifice is nothing
."
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Born in the Chinese city of Zhongshan, Koo Sze-yiu first opposed the Portuguese colonial government of Macao before virulently attacking Beijing's authoritarianism in Hong Kong.
Incarcerated at least eleven times since 2000, he was diagnosed with rectal cancer in 2020.