Hong Kong national security law: 9 years’ jail for first person convicted under legislation
- Leon Tong sentenced to 6½ years for the secession crime and eight years for terrorism, with 5½ years of the latter term to run concurrently with the first
- The 24-year-old former restaurant worker drove a motorcycle into a group of police officers on July 1, 2020, while carrying a flag with the slogan ‘Liberate Hong Kong’
Leon Tong Ying-kit, 24, was back before three High Court judges selected from a panel hand-picked by the city’s leader after earlier being found guilty of terrorism and incitement to commit secession over his actions carried out on July 1 last year, within hours of the Beijing-imposed law taking effect.
They sentenced the former restaurant worker to 6½ years for the secession crime and eight years for terrorism, with 5½ years of the latter term to run concurrently with the first. He was also barred from driving for 10 years.
In their 15-page explanation of the punishment, the judges said Tong’s incitement crime warranted five to 10 years behind bars, given the way he waved the flag and how he chose the first full day the security law was in effect to commit the offence.
“The defendant was not a lone protester quietly carrying a flag bearing the slogan amongst a sea of protesters,” read the judgment delivered at the Court of First Instance. “He deliberately challenged a number of police check lines in order to attract as much attention to the secessionist message on the flag as possible and to leave a great impact and a strong impression on people.”