A Hong Kong man with Portuguese nationality was yesterday jailed for five years on “incitement to secession,” the first dual national convicted under the territory’s Beijing-imposed National Security Law.
Joseph John, also known as Wong Kin-chung (黃煡聰), pleaded guilty in February to the charge, admitting that he was the chairperson of the now-dissolved Britain-based Hong Kong Independence Party. He was also an administrator for the party’s six online platforms.
The guiding principles of the little-known group included “declaring China’s illegal occupation of Hong Kong,” “inviting the UK and the US to send troops to Hong Kong” and calling for Hong Kong to be an “independent member state of the Commonwealth,” the court was told.
The prosecution alleged 42 posts on the party’s social media platforms to be “secessionist.” The offending posts included online petitions for foreign military intervention and crowdfunding to build an army for Hong Kong.
Judge Ernest Lin (練錦鴻) yesterday sentenced John to five years in jail, saying that he had “distorted history, demonized China and appealed to foreign countries to destroy [Hong Kong] and China by political or simply violent means.”
John, a 41-year-old Portuguese citizen, has been denied bail for more than 16 months since he was arrested and charged in November 2022 with “conspiracy to carry out seditious acts.”
Diplomats from Portugal and the EU were yesterday in court to observe the proceedings.
Portugal’s consul general in Hong Kong, Alexandre Leitao, said they had not been able to visit John.
Hong Kongers with dual nationality are not entitled to foreign consular assistance as the territory’s authorities have been strictly enforcing Chinese nationality regulations.
In other news, a Reporters Without Borders (RSF) representative was on Wednesday refused entry to Hong Kong after arriving to monitor the trial of former media mogul Jimmy Lai (黎智英), the group said.
Taipei-based Aleksandra Bielakowska was questioned and searched before being turned away, the international non-governmental organization said in a statement, adding that it was the first time one of its representatives had been blocked from entering Hong Kong.
“We have never experienced such blatant efforts by authorities to evade scrutiny of court proceedings in any country,” RSF director of campaigns Rebecca Vincent said in the statement.
She said the denial highlighted the “dire erosion of press freedom” in the once freewheeling Chinese territory.
The Hong Kong Immigration Department said it does not comment on individual cases and handles each case in accordance with the laws and policies.
Bielakowska, an advocacy officer, visited Hong Kong in December last year to attend the opening of Lai’s trial for offenses under the National Security Law.
The 76-year-old Apple Daily founder could spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted.
After she arrived at the airport on Wednesday, Bielakowska was stopped at the immigration office, detained for six hours and questioned throughout her detention, the group said.
Bielakowska said in an interview that officers did not explain her detention other than citing “immigration reasons,” and did not mention Lai during the questioning.
She traveled with a colleague, Asia-Pacific Bureau director Cedric Alviani, who was allowed to enter Hong Kong, but returned to Taiwan later that day.
Bielakowska said she could have been targeted partly because she is more vocal and active in taking media interviews.
Her colleague left due to security concerns, she said, as “we didn’t know what might happen to him when he stayed there.”
Reporters Without Borders said it wants an explanation for the episode and a guarantee its representatives can return to monitor the trial.
The Paris-based advocacy group ranked Hong Kong 140 out of 180 places in its 2023 World Press Freedom Index, declining from 18th place in the span of two decades.
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