Three-month sentence for flag-burner

A political activist who burned the national flag during a demonstration last year was given a suspended prison sentence yesterday, the toughest penalty to be handed down so far under the controversial legislation.

Ng Kwok-hung, 45, a member of the April 5th Action Group, set light to the flag on National Day. He was convicted of one charge of desecrating the flag by publicly and wilfully burning it and sentenced to three months' jail, suspended for two years.

It is the first time a prosecution has been brought for flag-burning, although there have been five convictions since the handover for desecrating the national or Hong Kong flags.

In the previous cases, protesters have been convicted of altering or defacing flags. No jail terms or suspended prison sentences were imposed.

Handing down the sentence, Eastern Court magistrate Adriana Ching said it was a serious case and Ng's claim he had a right to burn the flag to express his political demands was inappropriate. 'It only reflects his ignorance,' Ms Ching said.

Citing Chief Justice Andrew Li Kwok-nang's judgment in a landmark flag desecration case in 1998, Ms Ching said: 'The national flag symbolises the whole nation, the Chinese people and their dignity.

'Everybody has freedom of expression, but you should use other, legal, means to express your opinions.'