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National security law: Hong Kong slams ‘irresponsible’ US, EU comments after sentencing of first person convicted under legislation
- War of words erupted after Leon Tong, 24, was jailed for 9 years for riding his motorcycle into group of police officers while flying a flag calling for city’s ‘liberation’
- US State Department said it was deeply concerned Chinese officials were deploying law ‘as a political weapon to silence dissenting voices’
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Hong Kong has slammed “irresponsible” remarks by the United States and European Union criticising the sentencing of the first person to be convicted under the city’s national security law.
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The war of words erupted after Leon Tong Ying-kit, 24, was jailed for nine years on Friday for riding his motorcycle into a group of police officers last year while flying a flag calling for the city’s “liberation”.
The former restaurant worker was found guilty of terrorism and incitement to commit secession over his actions carried out on July 1 last year, within hours of the Beijing-imposed law taking effect.
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First person convicted under Hong Kong’s national security law jailed for 9 years
First person convicted under Hong Kong’s national security law jailed for 9 years
The flag mounted to the back of Tong’s motorcycle carried the slogan “Liberate Hong Kong; revolution of our times”, a rallying cry of the 2019 anti-government movement, and which the three-judge panel hearing the case had earlier found as capable of bearing a secessionist meaning.
Hong Kong’s No 2 official, Chief Secretary John Lee Ka-chiu, said on Saturday that anyone who attempted to challenge the bottom line of national security would be “setting themselves on fire”.
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Defending the trial, he said Tong’s case was heard in open court, and the verdict was based on facts and evidence.
A full investigation would also be launched into threats against the three judges after Tong was found guilty, Lee said.
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