Tam Tak-chi to appeal sedition conviction in top court

The city’s top court on Wednesday granted jailed former activist Tam Tak-chi a final attempt to appeal against his conviction and sentence for sedition.

Three presiding judges at the Court of Final Appeal agreed to look into whether offences under now-repealed sedition laws must be tried at the Court of First Instance before a judge and a jury, and if the prosecution has to prove a defendant intended to incite others to commit violence or public disorder in order to secure a conviction.

The appeal is set to be heard by Hong Kong’s top court on January 10 next year.

Tam, a former vice chairman of People Power, had lost a Court of Appeal challenge against his conviction and 40-month prison sentence for his chanting of slogans in the street in 2020.

Judges at the lower court ruled that the intention to incite violence was not a necessary element for the offence, and that there’s nothing suggesting people were subject to “an unacceptably harsh burden” due to the restriction imposed by it.

Sedition offences stipulated by sections 9 and 10 of the Crimes Ordinance have since been repealed and replaced by provisions in Hong Kong’s domestic national security law.