Tony Chung, 20, is the youngest person to be tried by a new law that resolves disputes in Hong Kong.
A young Hong Kong pro-democracy activist has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison after agreeing to isolate himself under the city’s security laws.
With Tuesday’s verdict, 20-year-old Tony Chung is now the youngest person to be tried by a new law that has broken Hong Kong’s instability and relocated former trade destinations around the world.
Earlier this month, he pleaded guilty to one count of isolation as well as counting the money fraudulently but sarcastically declared that he had “no shame”.
Chung was previously the founder of Student Localism, a small group he founded five years ago as a high school student to promote Hong Kong independence from China.
Divisions with China at the time were less so in Hong Kong although the desire for independence began to be felt at large and violent demonstrations of democracy two years ago.
Beijing imposed a security law in Hong Kong in response to the protests and Student Localism left several hours before it began.
Officials criticized Chung for continuing to work with the group with the help of international human rights activists and soliciting donations through PayPal. He is accused of embezzlement.
Opponents say the Chung group published more than 1,000 manuscripts, which included chanting “to overthrow Chinese communist rule” and rebuilding Hong Kong.
More than 150 were arrested
Some of the things the prosecutors mentioned before the security law, although Hong Kong officials have promised that the law will not be repealed.
On Tuesday, Stanley Chan, one of the judges appointed by the government to adjudicate national security cases, said Chung’s goal “was clear for all to see” on television, in interviews, on the streets and in schools.
“He planned, prepared and established the work of separating the country,” said District Court Judge Stanley Chan.
Chung had already spent more than a year in prison imprisonment in October 2020.
He was apprehended by plainclothes police officers from a coffee shop in front of the US ambassador, who said he was seeking security.
Security law deals with anything that governments consider to be a violation of the law, “terrorism” or co-operation with foreign military forces.
Chung initially faced an additional charge of sedition and another count of embezzlement but was acquitted at the request.
In another case last December, Chung was jailed for four months for illegal assembly and desecration of a Chinese national flag.
Four other men have so far been tried on various charges under the protection law – mainly because of their political views.
More than 150 people have been arrested under the law, and about half of them have been prosecuted.
Belo is often denied and pleading guilty is a way to reduce the final verdict and the cost of a long court trial.
Many democratic politicians are now either in prison or in exile. Many government agencies have collapsed, and some international freedom groups they have left the city.
Officials in China and Hong Kong deny that the security law violates human rights and says the law was necessary to maintain order in the aftermath of the 2019 protests.
The former British nation returned to China in 1997 with the promise of greater independence. Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online.
