Recently SCMP in Hong Kong on-line reported the following:
Ex-police officer jailed for 10 months over social media
comments mocking Hong Kong chief inspector’s death
SCMP Brian Wong
Published: 10:08pm, 20 Mar, 2023
Chui Chun-man
returned to West Kowloon Court on Monday to be sentenced on a charge of
committing an act or acts with seditious intent by a magistrate who was
endorsed by the city’s leader to hear the case.
The 28-year-old former constable was found guilty three
weeks earlier of instigating hatred towards the force by praising the untimely
death of 14-year police veteran Lam Yuen-yee and saying he wished all “dog
officers” would die.
Marine officer Lam was thrown overboard alongside three
colleagues when their vessel was rammed by a turbocharged speedboat they were
trying to intercept in mainland Chinese waters on September 25 in 2021.
Her body was found two days later, with the force
posthumously promoting her from senior to chief inspector in recognition of her
service.
Chui, then 26, wrote on the force’s official Facebook page
that Lam deserved to die and that he wished all “dog officers” would “perish as
soon as possible”.
He resigned in early November that year after police began
disciplinary proceedings against him.
Acting Principal Magistrate Veronica Heung Shuk-han on
Monday said Chui’s actions risked entrenching antagonism against police and
exposing officers to the threat of violence by those who harbored ill feelings
towards authorities.
She explained that even though the adoption of the national
security law had successfully quelled anti-government protests in 2019, there
were still safety concerns in the city and that an outbreak of violence
remained likely.
The court considered Chui disclosing his profession in the
remarks an attempt to establish credibility and his decision to publish the
comments on the force’s official Facebook page a “deliberate” choice to be more
provocative.
“The defendant insists that he bore no seditious intent in
committing the offence. He shows an utter lack of remorse,” the magistrate
said.
Defence lawyer Raymond Yu Chiu-cheuk asked for his client’s
temporary release immediately after the ruling on grounds including a
“reasonable” prospect of winning an appeal in the High Court and a “manifestly
excessive” sentence, but Heung refused.
The court heard in mitigation that Chui, who moved from
Guangzhou province at the age of 15, had considered being a police officer his
dream job and had received 12 commendations during his four-year tenure on the
force.
Chui was said to have committed the offence out of impulse
after being taunted by a senior officer.
The former constable had lived off his mother as well as his
own savings after his resignation, the court was told. He was said to be
pursuing a higher diploma with a view to turning over a new leaf.
Earlier during the trial, Chui told the court that he was
feeling “grumpy” at the time of the offence and did not genuinely believe in
what he wrote on the spur of the moment.
But the magistrate found his explanations unreasonable and
said he could not have made such “callous” remarks if he was indeed saddened by
the inspector’s death.
Sedition is punishable by up to two years’ imprisonment upon
a first conviction. It has been defined by the city’s top court as an offence
capable of endangering national security, meaning defendants can face higher
hurdles when applying for bail and their cases may only be heard by judges
approved by the chief executive.
Translation
一名前警察因煽動叛亂罪被判入獄 10 個月，並在上訴期間被拒絕保釋，此前一名地方法官發現他在社交媒體評論中嘲笑一個總督察的死,
並毫無悔意地詆毀高級官員。
崔駿民週一重返回西九龍法院，被獲港府特首授權審理此案的裁判官,以煽動罪名判刑。
三週前，這名 28 歲的前警員被判有罪，罪名是表達樂於見到一個從警 14 年的老將林婉儀意外早死，並說他希望所有“狗警”都死，以此煽動對警隊的仇恨。
2021 年 9 月 25 日，當林婉儀們的船隻在中國大陸水域試圖作出攔截時,被一艘渦輪增壓快艇撞上，林水警和三名同事一起被拋下海。
兩天后她的屍體被發現，部隊追授她從高級督察到總督察，以表彰她的服務。
當時 26 歲的崔在該部隊的官方 Facebook 頁面上寫道，林活該死，他希望所有
“狗警” 都 “早日死去”。
在警方開始對他進行紀律處分後，他於當年 11 月初辭職。
署理主任裁判官香淑嫻週一表示，崔的行為有可能加劇對警方的敵對情緒，並使警員面臨那些對當局懷有惡意的人的暴力威脅。
她解釋說，儘管國安法的通過成功平息了2019年的反政府抗議活動，但該市仍存在安全隱患，仍有可能爆發暴力事件。
法院認為，崔在言論中披露自己的職業是為了建立可信度，而他決定在警隊的官方 Facebook 頁面上發布評論是“故意”選擇，以更具挑釁性。
裁判官說“被告堅稱他在犯罪時沒有煽動煽動的意圖。 他完全沒有表現出悔意”。
辯護律師Raymond Yu Chiu-cheuk在裁決後以“有合理”的機會在高等法院贏得上訴,以及“明顯過重”的刑罰為由，要求立即臨時釋放他的委託人，但香淑嫻拒絕了。
法院獲悉，15 歲從廣州省移居的崔某認為他的夢想工作是當一名警察，他在警隊服役的四年中獲得了
12 次嘉獎。
據說崔是在受到一名高級官員的嘲諷後一時衝動犯下的罪行。
法庭獲悉，這位前警員在辭職後一直靠母親和自己的積蓄生活。 據說他正在攻讀高級文憑，以期翻開新的一頁。
早些時候在審訊期間，崔告訴法庭，他在犯罪時感到“脾氣暴躁”，並不真正相信他在一時衝動而寫下的東西。
但裁判官認為他的解釋不合理，並表示如果他確實對督察的死感到難過，他就不會說出這種“冷酷無情”的言論。
煽動叛亂罪，初犯最高可判處兩年監禁。 該市最高法院已將其定義為危害國家安全的罪行，這意味著被告在申請保釋時可能面臨更高的難度，而且他們的案件只能由行政長官批准的法官審理。
So, under the newly enforced
national security law, a former policeman is jailed for 10 months for sedition for
mocking a chief inspector’s death and denigrating senior officers in social
media comments. Writing mocking comments in the Facebook can now be punished by
imprisonment. In Hong Kong the concept of national security is so generalized
that it is beyond my imagination. I just cannot understand how mocking a chief
inspector’s death and denigrating senior officers in social media comments is
related to national security. What Hong Kong lacking is a sense of security. I think freedom of speech in Hong Kong is gone.
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