Hong Kong’s top court has granted a jailed opposition activist one last chance to appeal against his conviction for sedition, but refused to consider his contention that the law imposes an excessive restriction on free speech.
The Court of Final Appeal on Wednesday agreed to review the conviction of Tam Tak-chi – better known as “Fast Beat” from his days as an online radio host – who was jailed for 40 months on 11 charges over a raft of offensive acts during public gatherings in the aftermath of the 2019 anti-government protests.
The three presiding judges agreed to examine whether those charged with sedition under the colonial-era Crimes Ordinance must be tried before a judge and a jury, and whether the prosecution must prove a defendant’s intention to incite violence or public disorder in order to secure conviction.
But the bench found no room for the appellant to argue the offence was unconstitutional for being too wide and unclear.
The substantive appeal will be heard before a full panel of five judges on January 10 next year.
Tam, a former vice-chairman of the now-inactive opposition group People Power, has been detained since September 2020 when he became the first resident in more than 24 years to face sedition charges.
He has completed his 40-month sentence but is still incarcerated for conspiracy to subvert state power in breach of the Beijing-decreed national security law.
The Court of Appeal upheld his conviction earlier this year after finding it necessary to adopt a broad interpretation of the law to penalise seditious conduct which did not incite violence.
The lower appellate court also found nothing to suggest Tam, who the judges described as “a stern opponent of government policy”, would be subject to “an unacceptably harsh burden” because of the restriction imposed on his freedom of speech.
Sedition offences stipulated by Section 9 and 10 of the Crimes Ordinance have since been repealed and replaced by Section 23 and 24 of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, the city’s domestic national security law.
The result of Tam’s appeal may nonetheless affect the disposal of another high-profile sedition case involving two former top editors of the now-defunct Stand News portal site, who are awaiting the trial judge’s verdict.
