Hong Kong court jails ex-student leaders for inciting violence against police

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HONG KONG — A Hong Kong court on Monday (Oct 30) sentenced four former members of the student union of the University of Hong Kong to two years in jail for inciting others to wound police officers after they issued a statement supporting a man who stabbed a policeman.

District Court Judge Adriana Noelle Tse Ching said the students had committed a very serious offence by inciting hatred against the police. "A lenient sentencing would pass a wrong message to the society," she added.

The students included Charles Kwok, 22, a former student union president. Kwok and the other student union council members had issued a statement, which they later withdrew, in which they mourned 50-year-old Leung Kin-fai, who stabbed a policeman and then killed himself on July 1, 2021.

The students were initially arrested and charged with advocating terrorism under Hong Kong's national security law in August 2021. They earlier pleaded not guilty to the terrorism charge but admitted to the charge of incitement to wound with intent. The judge then dropped the terrorism charge.

Beijing imposed the national security law on Hong Kong in 2020 after months of anti-government protests. The law punishes acts including subversion, collusion with foreign forces and terrorism with up to life in prison.

The maximum penalty for both advocating terrorism and inciting others to wound with intent is life imprisonment. The maximum sentence a district court judge can impose is seven years.

The national security law has been criticised as a tool of repression by governments including the United States. The Chinese and Hong Kong governments, however, say it has restored stability in the city after protracted pro-democracy protests in 2019.

Source: Reuters

香港法院判处前学生领袖煽动暴力侵害警察罪

香港——周一（10 月 30 日），香港法院四名前香港大学学生会成员因煽动他人伤害警察而判处两年监禁，此前他们发表了支持一名刺伤一名男子的声明。 警察。

区域法院法官阿德里亚娜·诺埃尔·谢青表示，这些学生煽动对警察的仇恨，犯下了非常严重的罪行。 “宽大的量刑会向社会传递错误的信息，”她补充道。

这些学生包括 22 岁的前学生会主席 Charles Kwok。 郭和其他学生会成员曾发表声明，悼念于2021年7月1日刺伤一名警察然后自杀的50岁梁建辉，但随后又撤回。

这些学生最初于 2021 年 8 月根据香港国家安全法被捕，并被指控宣扬恐怖主义。他们早些时候对恐怖主义指控表示不认罪，但承认故意煽动伤人的指控。 法官随后撤销了恐怖主义指控。

经过数月的反政府抗议后，北京于 2020 年对香港实施国家安全法。 该法对颠覆、勾结外国势力和恐怖主义等行为的处罚最高可达终身监禁。

宣扬恐怖主义和煽动他人故意伤害的最高刑罚是无期徒刑。 地区法院法官可判处的最高刑期为七年。

国家安全法被包括美国在内的各国政府批评为镇压工具。 然而，中国和香港政府表示，在 2019 年旷日持久的民主抗议活动之后，香港已经恢复了稳定。