Minister once jailed for sedition backs Eddie Ng's call for students to avoid Occupy Central

The home affairs minister, who was once jailed for seditious acts during the 1967 leftist riots, has backed the education minister's call for students not to take part in the "illegal" Occupy Central civil disobedience campaign.

"Education minister Eddie Ng Hak-kim was performing his duty by reminding teachers and students to comply with the law," Tsang Tak-sing told reporters yesterday when asked to comment on Ng's remarks as a former student activist in the communist-inspired riots.

Tsang, then an 18-year-old St Paul's College student, was convicted of sedition and jailed for two years after he was found distributing fliers condemning the colonial government.

"I only distributed the anti-colonialism pamphlets that I had printed in school. What kind of crime had I committed?" Tsang asked.

Internet users last week mocked Tsang's past after Ng warned students they could jeopardise their future if they joined the pro-democracy movement.

Occupy Central intends to rally 10,000 protesters to block Central streets if the government does not come up with a satisfactory plan to implement universal suffrage for the 2017 chief executive election.