Hong Kong activist set to challenge conviction under national security law

Hong Kong activist Tong Ying Kit, who was the first person to be jailed under the Beijing-imposed national security law, is set to challenge his conviction and sentence next March.

The Court of Appeal on Friday set a date for the 24-year-old to seek a reversal of the High Court's decision in July when three judges who had been specially selected to hear national security cases handed him a nine-year prison term for inciting secession and engaging in terrorist acts, Hong Kong Free Press reported.

The activist was arrested on July 1 last year, just hours after the security law came into force, when he drove a motorcycle with a flag reading "Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our times" into three police officers during a demonstration in Wan Chai.

The protest slogan was said to be capable of inciting others to commit secession, while Tong's act of ramming his vehicle into police "seriously jeopardised public safety or security," the court ruled.

Tong's 15-day trial saw the prosecution and defence call three academics to debate the meaning of the protest slogan, which was banned by the government a day after Tong's arrest for carrying connotations of "pro-independence, secession and subversion."

The defence argued that its meaning was ambiguous.

On Friday, Justice of Appeal Derek Pang set the hearing date for Tong's challenge for March 22 and 23.

The justice asked Tong's lawyers to file their written submissions by mid-January.

He said he intended to submit the testimonies of three to four trial witnesses, including police officers and the prosecution's expert witness and history professor Lau Chi-pang. They will play some videos in court as well, the lawyer said.

( With inputs from ANI )