“Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.”
Benjamin Franklin
Tam Tak-chi was found guilty on 11 of 14 charges against him last month, including seven counts of “uttering seditious words”, the first person to be charged with sedition in Hong Kong under a pre 1997 law used against pro-democracy protesters and supporters.
He was sentenced to a total of 54 months for the various charges, serving 40 in totality.
“exemplifies the dizzying speed at which Hong Kong’s freedoms are being eroded. Once known as Asia’s protest capital, Hong Kong is now sentencing people to years in prison simply for shouting slogans.”
Maya Wang, Human Rights Watch.