Terminally ill Hong Kong activist sentenced to prison again over prop coffin protest
Koo Sze-yiu
A Hong Kong activist, Koo Sze-yiu, 78, battling terminal cancer, has been sentenced to nine months in prison for attempted sedition. His charges, as per an AFP report, stem from plans to protest against China's political crackdown using a prop coffin.
Even as the sentence was passed, a defiant Kootold the court he wanted to be a "martyr for democracy and human rights" before being led away, reportedthe local media.
Koo is one of the few vocal government critics still remaining in Hong Kong after Beijing "crushed" thedemocracy protests nearly five years ago.
This is the second time he has been hit with sedition charges.
The protest
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As per the report citing prosecutors, the protest Koo planned last December was against local elections that excluded pro-democracy candidates.
He was arrested by national security police on December 8, just hours before the scheduled demonstration.
The court ruled that the prop coffin symbolised overthrowing the central government and would have encouraged the public to reject election results and resist.
It "symbolised death... (and) overthrowing the central government," they said.
Sedition charges
This is not the first time Koo has faced such charges. In 2022, he was jailed for nine months for attempting sedition over plans to protest Beijing's hosting of the Winter Olympics.
Sedition, a colonial-era offence, was revived by Hong Kong authorities in 2020 and has been used to target many government critics, including those expressing dissent on social media.
As per reports, Hong Kong is also considering a new national security law that would broaden the scope of "sedition" to protect more Chinese and Hong Kong state institutions. This homegrown legislation, if passed, would add to the national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020 to quell dissent. As of mid-January2024, close to 291 people have been arrested for national security-related offences in Hong Kong, reported AFP.
(With inputs from agencies)
