2 held under Hong Kong security law to plead guilty – but 1 seeks legal challenge
- Au Kin-wai, 58, and Chu Kai-pong, 27, to plead guilty to publishing offensive material online and wearing seditious clothing respectively
West Kowloon Court heard on Wednesday Au Kin-wai and Chu Kai-pong were planning to plead guilty respectively to publishing offensive material on social media and wearing seditious clothing in public. Both alleged offences took place earlier this year.
Chu, 27, may also admit to charges of loitering and failing to produce proof of identity upon demand subject to a plea bargain, according to his lawyer Steven Kwan Man-wai.
But Kwan said his other client Au, 58, would only plead guilty if the sedition offence was held to be consistent with the human rights safeguards under the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution.
He noted the new charge under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, which replaced the colonial-era offence, allowed for fewer statutory defences while expressly stating an act could be seditious without intending to incite violence or public disorder.
Kwan said he intended to show in the coming proceedings the ordinance imposed excessive restrictions on a person’s freedom of speech.