A PRO-DEMOCRACY Hong Kong radio DJ has been sentenced to 40 months’ jail for “seditious speech” under a British colonial-era law that authorities have embraced, as China flattens dissent in the region.

Tam Tak-chi, 49, is among a growing number of activists charged with sedition, a previously little-used law that prosecutors dusted off in the wake of massive and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.

The DJ’s sentencing was aggravated as his seditious speech continued after China imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in 2020, said judge Stanley Chan today, while announcing the punishment.

“Live long, mother, wait for me,” shouted Tam afterwards, as he was taken away from the court.

Better known by moniker “Fast Beat”, Tam hosted a popular online talk show that backed democracy and was highly critical of the government, often using colourful language.

He was a regular presence at the pro-democracy protests in the city and often set up street booths to deliver political speeches.

Prosecutors accused him of inciting hatred against the authorities by chanting the popular protest slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times”, cursing the police force and repeatedly shouting “Down with the Communist Party”.

Chan said Tam is “just a 50-year-old coarse man railing recklessly” in pursuit of a well-paid seat in the Hong Kong legislature.

Tam, in a Facebook post, said he will appeal.

“My conviction affects Hong Kong people’s freedom of speech,” he wrote.

His 40-month prison sentence may not be the end of his legal woes – he has been denied bail in a separate national security case.

Tam’s trial is the first since Hong Kong’s 1997 handover, in which a sedition defendant pleaded not guilty and fought through a full trial.

His conviction and sentencing will set precedents for a host of upcoming sedition prosecutions as China remoulds Hong Kong in its own authoritarian image.

Sedition, with a maximum penalty of two years in jail, is separate from the city’s security law, but the courts now treat it with the same severity as acts that endanger national security. – AFP, April 20, 2022.