An elderly busker has been sentenced to two weeks in jail over unlicensed public performances of the protest anthem Glory to Hong Kong.
Li Jiexin’s conviction on Tuesday marked the second time he had been sentenced to jail over unlicensed performances, both involving the protest song popularised at the height of pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Judge Ivy Chui at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on Tuesday sentenced Li to 18 days in prison after the septuagenarian pleaded guilty to eight counts of performing a musical instrument and raising funds without a permit, local media reported.
Li originally faced six counts of performing a musical instrument without a permit and six counts of raising funds without a permit, according to local media reports. The remaining four counts have been stored on court file.
Li was last October sentenced to 30 days in prison for unlicensed performance and fundraising after playing the protest anthem Glory to Hong Kong in public, an act that was branded at the time as “soft resistance” by Magistrate Amy Chan.
The court also granted an application by the prosecution to confiscate Li’s erhu and amplifier which had been used for the performances.
National security investigation
Case details stated that officers from the national security department of the police launched a pre-emptive investigation to observe Li.
Ahead of these second round of charges, Li was arrested on suspicion of “doing an act with seditious intention” after police officers saw him playing Glory to Hong Kong in public, though he was later charged with performing and raising funds without a permit.
Li allegedly played the erhu, a traditional Chinese two-stringed instrument, in public without lawful authority or excuse and without a permit issued by the Commissioner of Police between September 27 and October 4 last year.
Not isolated incident
In mitigation, the defence said that Li did not obstruct pedestrians nor provoke negative reactions from people, and that he had acted out of ignorance and misunderstanding of the law.
But referring to Li’s conviction last year, judge Chui said Li’s performances of the protest song were not an isolated incident, and that the offences relating to Tuesday’s conviction were committed during the course of an ongoing trial last year over similar charges.
Acknowledging that although the government’s ban against unlawful acts relating to the protest song was not in force at the time of the offences, Chui said a custodial sentence was the “only choice” and sentenced Li to 18 days in prison.
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