Avast ye scallywags! A poor landlubber from Hong Kong be trapped in the brig, unable to lessen his sentence, all 'cause he be breakin' China's security law.
2023-08-22
Avast ye scurvy dogs! Lui Sai-yu, a poor trapped scholar, hath failed to lessen his punishment o' five years in Davy Jones' locker. He be found guilty o' violatin' a law on national security, set by the mighty China!
A university student in Hong Kong who pleaded guilty to inciting secession has lost his bid to reduce his five-year prison sentence. Lui Sai-yu admitted that content on a Telegram channel he administered encouraged others to separate Hong Kong from China or unlawfully change the city's legal status. However, his guilty plea did not result in a reduction in his sentence, as the national security law imposed minimum jail terms for serious offenses. Lui is one of around 260 people who were arrested under the security law as Beijing sought to suppress dissidents following the 2019 protests. The ruling on his appeal is expected to set a precedent for sentencing in other national security cases, including for prominent democracy leaders who have also pleaded guilty.The judges unanimously dismissed Lui's appeal, ruling that a minimum penalty of five years is mandatory for serious secession offenses under the security law. Initially, a lower court judge had intended to sentence Lui to 44 months in prison with a one-third reduction due to his guilty plea, but this was amended to five years after the prosecution argued for the seriousness of the crime. Lui appealed the decision but was unsuccessful.
The ruling reaffirms the power of the security law and highlights the departure from the common law system, which traditionally does not set out minimum sentences. Lui, who was studying civil engineering at the time of his arrest, was not a prominent pro-democracy activist. His Telegram channel contained messages with slogans often chanted by protesters during the 2019 movement.
Observers believe that the judgment will have implications for future cases, including the sentencing of 31 activists who pleaded guilty to subversion charges for their alleged involvement in an unofficial primary election in 2020. Critics argue that the enactment of the security law has significantly eroded the freedoms promised to Hong Kong when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997, while the local government praises it for restoring stability.