Tam guilty on 11 counts in sedition first

Pro-democracy activist "Fast Beat" Tam Tak-chi was convicted in district court yesterday of sedition for chanting "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times" in 2020.

Tam, 49, vice chairman of People Power, was found guilty on 11 counts - seven for uttering seditious words, one for disorderly conduct in a public place, another for convening an unauthorized assembly and one more for refusing to obey an officer.

However, he was acquitted on three charges - two of disorderly conduct in a public place and a count of conspiracy to utter seditious words - by district court judge Stanley Chan Kwong-chi.

The case was adjourned to March 31 for sentencing, pending Tam's background report. In the meantime, Tam will remain in jail custody.

Tam's trial was the first since the handover in which a sedition defendant pleaded not guilty and undergoing a full trial.

As Chan handed down the verdict yesterday, he slammed the defense's expert witness, University of Hong Kong arts professor Janny Leung Hiu-chi, for being unscientific in her interpretation of the meaning behind the slogan "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times."

Leung earlier told the court that the slogan is made up of mere "symbols" without a defined meaning, a conclusion she reached after interviewing over 10,000 protesters.

However, Chan said that Leung's study lacked sources who could be identified.

He further criticized Leung, saying that she has proved herself incapable of remaining professional and unbiased.

However, Chan accepted the interpretation of the prosecution's expert witness, Lingnan University history professor Lau Chi-pang.

Lau said that the slogan communicates a desire to separate Hong Kong from China.

Chan also disagreed with the defense's argument that Tam's speech was only meant to point out the disadvantages of the national security law and should not be regarded as seditious.

He further objected to the argument that Tam has in-depth knowledge of the security law and was only delivering political pronouncements without infringing on the law.

Tam was "obviously" encouraging people in Tai Po Waterfront Park to go to a rally, Chan said, which formed the basis behind Tam's conviction on the charge of inciting others to participate in an unlawful assembly.

In regard to the charge of disorderly behavior in a public place, Chan called Tam's use of obscene language against police officers outside Causeway Bay's Sogo shopping mall over the top. He added that Tam's words were proof of a "cunning and vicious" character.

Chan noted that an earlier landmark verdict in activist Tong Ying-kit's case - the first person to be convicted under the security law for displaying a flag containing the same slogan - provided significant guidance to the court in Tam's case.