Tong Ying Kitt, who was found guilty under the National Security Act, was alleged to have entered a group of police officers on a motorcycle carrying a flag.
Tong Ying Kitt (AFP) sitting in a car with a mask on
A man facing trial for the first time under Hong Kong’s amended National Security Act has been found guilty of secessionism and terrorism. The Hong Kong High Court has given this decision in the case related to 24-year-old Tong Ying-kit. In the year 2019, anti-government demonstrations were seen in Hong Kong. It was only after this that the National Security Act was brought.
Tong Ying Kitt was alleged to have entered a group of police officers on a motorcycle carrying a flag on July 1 last year. It was written on the flag, ‘Liberate Hong Kong, this is the revolution of our times’. The incident happened a day after the amended National Security Act was imposed on Hong Kong. China implemented the amended National Security Act in 2019 after months of anti-government protests in Hong Kong. This order is being closely watched so that it can be estimated that how decisions will be delivered from similar cases in future.
The maximum punishment can be given to life imprisonment.
More than 100 people have been arrested under the National Security Act. Tong had pleaded for alternative charges like dangerous driving, instead of framing charges of separatism and terrorism. Tong could face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. His lawyers may appeal for a lighter sentence during the sentencing on Thursday. Justice Esther Toh, while pronouncing the verdict, said that Tong carried out terrorist activities aimed at causing serious harm to society in order to fulfill a political agenda.
Slogan flag provocation
Esther Toh said her behavior was tantamount to spreading violence aimed at coercing the central and Hong Kong governments and intimidating the public. He said that keeping the flag written with the slogan is an act to incite separation. Since the prosecution was certain that it had proved “every element” of the terrorism and secession charges, the court decided not to hear the charge of dangerous driving. The hearing of the case was completed on July 20.
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