Defacing flag 'just a political statement'

An activist accused of desecrating an SAR flag during a protest against police told a court yesterday he and his fellow protester had just been trying to express a political opinion.

In his final submission in Western Court yesterday, Leung 'Long Hair' Kwok-hung, representing himself, said the Regional Flag and Regional Emblem Ordinance should be scrapped as it restricted freedom of expression.

He said he and Koo Sze-yiu had used the flag to express their views on the SAR Government.

'Every citizen should be entitled to exercise our freedom of expression. The [Regional Flag and Regional Emblem] Ordinance could be described as an evil law as it infringed our rights to express our opinions, and thus should be scrapped,' he said.

Leung, 45, and Koo, 55, both members of the April 5th Action Group, deny desecrating the regional flag during a demonstration in Chater Garden on May 12 last year.

The court heard that two petals of the bauhinia emblem on an SAR flag attached to a wooden coffin carried by the protesters were painted black.