The government has welcomed a ruling from the Court of Final Appeal which upheld pro-democracy radio host “Fast Beat” Tam Tak-chi’s conviction and sentence for uttering seditious words.
Tam stood accused of chanting the controversial slogan “liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,” a phrase ruled as capable of inciting others to commit secession in the city’s first national security trial.
Following a series of failed appeals in lower courts, the activist brought his legal challenge to the top court in January. It was the first time the CFA heard an appeal against the colonial-era legislation, which was repealed last year when Hong Kong enacted the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance – commonly known as Article 23.
The government “welcomes the judgment of the CFA on the case against” Tam, it told HKFP, citing the top court’s ruling as stating that the prosecution was not required to prove Tam’s intention to incite violence or public disorder.
Article 23 “clearly stipulates” that the prosecution does not need to prove such an intention, the government also said.
Hong Kong’s security chief Chris Tang told reporters on Friday afternoon that the government welcomed the CFA’s ruling on Tam’s case.
The judgment “again showed that under the Crimes Ordinance, the elements of the sedition offence did not include [the intention] to incite violence or [the intention] to incite public disorder,” Tang said in Cantonese.
Tam’s appeal has far-reaching implications for sedition cases brought to the court under the Article 23 legislation. Several ongoing cases had adjourned awaiting the appeal result, with lawyers saying that it could affect how the defendants may plead.
Separate from the 2020 Beijing-enacted security law, the homegrown Safeguarding National Security Ordinance targets treason, insurrection, sabotage, external interference, sedition, theft of state secrets and espionage. It allows for pre-charge detention of up to 16 days, and suspects’ access to lawyers may be restricted, with penalties involving up to life in prison. Article 23 was shelved in 2003 amid mass protests, remaining taboo for years. But, on March 23, 2024, it was enacted having been fast-tracked and unanimously approved at the city’s opposition-free legislature.
The law has been criticised by rights NGOs, Western states and the UN as vague, broad and “regressive.” Authorities, however, cited perceived foreign interference and a constitutional duty to “close loopholes” after the 2019 protests and unrest.
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