HONG KONG – A student of Hong Kong Polytechnic University was sentenced on Friday to five years in prison for inciting secession, an offense under the National Security Law for Hong Kong.
Lui Sai-yu, 25, had pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one count of incitement to secession. Lui was accused of inciting others to organize, plan, execute and take part in activities between June 30 and Sept 24, 2020, that aimed to separate Hong Kong from the country.
The court was told that Lui, together with another person, had managed a Telegram channel since 2019 to promote separatism advocacy, incite violence, and sell weapons to others, even students.
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Lui was arrested on Sept 24, 2020, when police found a pepper-ball air pistol, a retractable baton, and two knives in his residence
After the National Security Law took effect on June 30, 2020, Lui said he would not respect the law. He also published posts advocating Hong Kong “independence” almost every day.
He was arrested on Sept 24, 2020, when police found a pepper-ball air pistol, a retractable baton, and two knives in his residence. He said he bought the pepper-ball air gun from the United States and planned to sell it for HK$6,800 ($866).
Passing the sentence in District Court, Judge Amanda Woodcock said the case is very serious, as the defendant publicly incited others in an online platform to arm themselves for revolution and attempted to sell weapons to people to attack others or for self-defense.
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She pointed out that the defendant aims to affect as many people as possible to promote separatism advocacy. When he conducted the actions, the city was at the height of its social unrest, and anti-government sentiment was quite high. His acts would exacerbate the instability of society, and necessitated a deterrent sentence, she said.