A 16-year-old has pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit secession over his involvement in a Taiwan-based group that advocates for Hong Kong independence.
The defendant, whose name is not disclosed as he is a minor, appeared at the District Court on Friday.
According to the case details read out by the prosecution, the teen contacted the founder of the Hong Kong Democratic Independence Union in November via WhatsApp and asked to join the group. He told the founder he wanted to establish an “intelligence department” to collect information about Hong Kong police officers.
The defendant attended six online meetings with the group between January and March, the prosecution said. He also circulated three posts on social media relating to Hong Kong Parliament, a shadow legislature comprising overseas activists that local authorities have described as “subversive.”
The period of his offence was between November 2024 and July this year, the prosecution added.
He was charged alongside two other men, also involved with the Hong Kong Democratic Independence Union. Their cases will be heard separately later next month.
David Ma, the defendant’s barrister, said his client was arrested twice, first in March and a second time in July. After his first arrest, he did not make any more social media posts, he said.
The prosecution, however, said the previous posts remained, meaning the conspiracy “continued to exist.”
Ma said he accepted this, but added that the defendant played a “passive role” following his arrest.
Sentencing
The case was adjourned to November 27 for sentencing. Judge Ernest Lin said he would seek a training centre report for the 16-year-old, a document used to assess the suitability of defendants for training centres, an alternative to imprisonment for young offenders.
Lin told the defendant that this did not necessarily mean he would be able to escape imprisonment, adding that the offence he committed was serious.
In arguing for a lighter sentence for his client, Ma pointed to an article in the national security law that categorises offenders into three groups in order of their level of participation in the offence – “principal offenders,” “active participants,” and “other participants.”
Ma said he hoped Lin could consider the teenager as an “other participant,” meaning a jail term of up to three years, the lowest penalty for the offence.
The barrister added that the defendant had an autism diagnosis and went to a special needs school, although later attended mainstream primary and secondary schools. He said he hoped Lin would take into account the defendant’s age, his guilty plea, and remorse in sentencing him.
Lin said he would seek a psychiatrist’s and a clinical psychologist’s reports to help him decide on an appropriate sentence for the defendant.
