Hong Kong | Hong Kong activist Tony Chung, 20, pleaded guilty to “secession” on Wednesday in the fourth case tried under the National Security Act, which carries a life sentence.
He will be the youngest activist to be sentenced under this new legislation imposed at the end of June by Beijing on the semi-autonomous territory. The next hearing is scheduled for November 23.
“I have nothing to be ashamed of,” Tony Chung told court as he pleaded his case.
Judge Stanley Chan immediately warned Mr. Chung that it would not be allowed to talk about politics in the courtroom.
Tony Chung was the head of a now disbanded student group, Student Localism, founded in 2016 and demanding Hong Kong independence.
According to the prosecution, the group advocated that Hong Kong “get rid of Chinese Communist colonial rule” and “build a republic of Hong Kong”, disseminating its messages through social media, calls for demonstrations and products bearing messages of ‘independence.
According to prosecutors, the group had appealed to the United States to pass a law imposing sanctions on Hong Kong and China.
Mr. Chung was also found guilty of a money laundering charge on Wednesday and, in return, the prosecution agreed to dismiss a sedition charge as well as a second money laundering charge, for which he claimed. pleaded not guilty.
Although authorities have previously said the security law is not retroactive, prosecutors cited numerous offenses that allegedly took place before the law came into force.
The young man was arrested at the end of October by plainclothes police a few meters from the American consulate and had since been in pre-trial detention.
According to a group calling itself “Friends of Hong Kong”, the young activist was arrested by the police that day because he wanted to seek asylum at the US consulate in Hong Kong.
Last December, Mr. Chung was sentenced to four months in prison for contempt of the Chinese flag and illegal assembly.
A large number of pro-democracy activists have left the city to seek refuge abroad since Beijing stepped up the crackdown on movements denouncing China’s takeover of the territory.
Under the controversial law, which leaves room for wide interpretation, activists who voice their opinions can be accused of “subversion” and “collusion with foreign forces”.
Four other men have so far been convicted in separate Security Act cases and more than 150 people have been arrested, around half of whom have been charged. Bail is often refused.