Clarify whether independence banners are criminal offence, Hong Kong justice chief urged
Legal experts are mixed about whether legislation on freedoms or national security will take precedence
Hong Kong’s justice secretary was under pressure on Friday to clarify whether erecting banners with messages advocating independence for the city warranted criminal prosecution, as legal experts continued to debate the matter.
It came as banners and posters appearing on university campuses continued to stir up controversy, with rival student groups staging protests and engaging in quarrels at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Alan Hoo, a veteran barrister and chairman of the Basic Law Institute, a think tank, called on the government and Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung to clear up ambiguity on whether such actions necessitated criminal prosecution, given that “publishing seditious messages challenging China’s sovereignty” was a breach of the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution.
Hoo cited the Crimes Ordinance, which defines seditious intent as a motive to incite “disaffection against the government” and gives law enforcement officers authority to enter premises to remove seditious publications.
“[The secretary] says this is a breach of the Basic Law, full stop,” he said. “But laws entail legal consequences, and that’s why they are called laws. So you can’t just always put a full stop and be unwilling to [initiate] criminal proceedings.
