A Hong Kong radio DJ yesterday was convicted of seditious speech under a British colonial-era law that authorities have embraced as China flattens dissent in the territory.
Tam Tak-chi (譚得志), 49, is among an increasing number of rights advocates charged with sedition, a previously little-used law that prosecutors have dusted off in the wake of pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Tam’s trial was the first since Hong Kong’s 1997 handover in which a sedition defendant fought his case by pleading not guilty and went through a full trial.
Two previous prosecutions were wrapped up after guilty pleas.
Tam’s conviction is a legal watershed, because it