Hong Kong ‘Captain America’ protester jailed for nearly 6 years under security law

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District court judge Stanley Chan ruled in October that former delivery boy Ma Chun-man, 31, was guilty of inciting secession because of the slogans he chanted, the signs he held and the statements he made to the media.

“The accused was instigated by a politician and he ultimately became an instigator himself,” Chan said, without naming the politician. “In this context, it is difficult to guarantee that there will be no more Ma Chun-mans.”

Ma had pleaded not guilty and had not testified.

One of his lawyers, Chris Ng, told reporters he was not sure Ma would appeal.

“I don’t feel any regrets,” Ma wrote in a letter to the judge, which he signed with his nickname.

“On my way to democracy and freedom, I cannot afford to be a coward,” he said in the letter, part of which was read in court before being sentenced to five. years and nine months in prison.

Beijing imposed the Hong Kong National Security Law in June of last year, thus ending the largest and longest-running pro-democracy protests that the former semi-autonomous British colony has faced since its return to Chinese rule in 1997.

The law punishes anything China considers subversion, secession, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces to life imprisonment and has been widely criticized as a tool to purge political opponents and crush individual freedoms.

Beijing maintains the rule of law and all rights and freedoms remain intact and says legislation was needed to close loopholes in national security and end the often violent unrest, which it says was instigated by foreign forces .

Ma’s conviction was the second under the law.

In the first, former server Tong Ying-kit was sentenced to nine years in prison. He had ridden a motorbike among a group of police officers, displaying the slogan “Free Hong Kong, revolution of our time”, which the court deemed “capable of inciting secession”.

Tong, who has also been convicted of terrorism for allegedly using his motorcycle as a weapon, is appealing.

In Ma’s case, the court saw videos of him chanting “Hong Kong independence the only way out.” A notebook titled “Captain America’s Resistance Diary” was also seized.

Another defense attorney, Edwin Choy, called for leniency before sentencing, saying Ma’s slogans and chants were empty words with little impact. Ma did not commit any violent acts and was not someone who would encourage violence, Choy said.

More than 100 people, including many of the city’s most prominent opposition politicians and activists, have been charged under the security law. Most have been denied bail.

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