HONG KONG: A Hong Kong court on Friday (Nov 3) sentenced a student to two months imprisonment for sedition over pro-independence social media posts she published while studying in Japan.
This is the first known Hong Konger convicted under the colonial-era sedition law over online speech in Japan.
Scholars and overseas activists say this case represents an alarming escalation of the chilling effect experienced by those who continue to engage with Hong Kong affairs.
Chief Magistrate Victor So sentenced the student to two months in jail after her guilty plea, saying deterrent sentencing was needed because “ignorant people would be incited subtly”.
Mika Yuen, 23, pleaded guilty to sedition in late October, for 13 pro-Hong Kong independence social media posts on Facebook and Instagram published between September 2018 and March 2023.
According to the prosecutor, most of the posts were published when she was studying in Japan, with messages like: “I am a Hongkonger; I advocate for Hong Kong independence” and “Hong Kong independence, the only way out”.
Among the 13 alleged social media posts, only two posts were published in Hong Kong.
She was arrested in March after returning to the city to renew her identity card.
The defence had earlier disputed whether the magistrate’s court had extraterritorial jurisdiction over the posts she published aboard, but they abandoned the dispute as she didn’t remove the content.
Source: CNA
