A Hong Kong court has sentenced a man to 14 months in prison for wearing a T-shirt with pro-democracy slogans, marking the first time the city’s national security law has been used to punish someone accused of endangering the Chinese state, Bloomberg reports.
Chu Kai-pong, 27, pleaded guilty to committing an act with seditious intention under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, known as Article 23, which was passed in March 2023. The offense carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Chu was arrested in June for wearing a T-shirt bearing the slogan “Liberate Hong Kong; revolution of our times,” which has been deemed by courts to incite secession. He also wore a yellow mask with the wording “FDNOL,” short for “five demands, not one less,” a popular slogan used by protesters during the 2019 anti-government demonstrations.
While Chu was previously sentenced to three months in prison for wearing the same T-shirt under a colonial-era sedition law, the new national security law raises the stakes, with a maximum sentence of up to a decade for first-time offenders.
The 2019 protests, which saw widespread calls for democratic reforms and an end to Beijing’s influence, prompted a harsh response from Chinese authorities. The national security law was introduced in 2020.
Scores of activists, including former tycoon Jimmy Lai and student leader Joshua Wong, are facing charges under this law, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. Two former editors were also found guilty of publishing seditious articles and are scheduled to be sentenced in November.
