 "Hong Kong scraps early release for national security convicts")
The leader of Hong Kong said on Tuesday that, as a result of a new rule passed over the weekend by the city’s authorities, anyone found guilty of crimes pertaining to national security would no longer be qualified for early release on the condition of good conduct.
His remarks followed news that Ma Chun-man, a democracy activist who was scheduled to be released on Monday after being found guilty of “incitement of secession” in 2021, had been detained, according to the local media.
2019 saw hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets in Hong Kong in large-scale, occasionally violent pro-democracy rallies calling for further autonomy from Beijing.
China responded by cracking down on protestors and enacting a national security legislation in 2020, which was reinforced this past weekend by a new domestic law.
“It’s been made very clear that if a prisoner is serving a sentence in respect to his conviction of an offence endangering national security, the prisoner is not entitled to remission,” leader John Lee said Tuesday about the new law when asked about Ma’s case.
Commonly referred to as “Article 23”, the law also applies to those sentenced before it was passed, he said.
“The ordinance has also made it clear that the new rule applies no matter if the sentence of the prisoner was imposed before or after the commencement of the relevant amendment,” Lee said, adding exceptions could be made by the correctional services commissioner.
The new law came into force Saturday – two days before Ma’s scheduled release – putting into immediate effect tough penalties of up to life imprisonment for certain national security crimes, including treason and insurrection.
The new law also amended Hong Kong’s prison rules, removing a possible one-third sentence reduction due to good behaviour for prisoners convicted of crimes of either the security law or other offences deemed national security threats by authorities.
Ma, 34 – nicknamed “Captain America 2.0” for carrying a replica of the Marvel superhero’s shield at protest rallies in 2019 – was convicted of “incitement to secession” in 2021.
He had successfully appealed to reduce his sentence by nine months to five years in 2022 as appeal judges deemed his culpability as “relatively low”.
Under the new law, Ma would have to remain behind bars for another 20 months.
“This is exactly telling everyone –- do not attempt to carry out any acts or activities that endanger national security as remission is generally not allowed. Do not challenge the law,” Lee said Tuesday.
Lee, who was Hong Kong’s security chief during the protests and sanctioned by the United States for his role, added that anyone unsatisfied with the decision “can seek through legal avenues for a court’s adjudication”.
The Correctional Services Department declined to comment on individual cases.
“The Commissioner… will consider the actual circumstances of the case and all relevant factors, including the prisoner’s representation,” the department said in a statement Monday.
