'Fast Beat' Tam Tak-chi appeals over sedition case

Pro-democracy activist "Fast Beat" Tam Tak-chi applied for an appeal after he was convicted of 11 charges in a sedition trial. The case will be adjourned, and results will be announced within nine months.

Tam was charged in 2020 for uttering seditious words with the intention of inciting "hatred or contempt" against the Hong Kong government, including the now-banned protest phrase "Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of our times" and other phrases.

He was given a 40-month prison sentence and a HK$5,000 fine after he was convicted of the 11 charges.

Tam's reason for the appeal was that since the original crime is related to the common law, they should prove that he intended to incite violence, which he wasn't.

The Department of Justice disagreed with his notion and stated that, as the law belongs to statutory law, they do not need to prove the speaker's intention.