First people are sentenced under Hong Kong’s tough new security law

Associated Press

HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong court has sentenced the first two people under a tough new Hong Kong national security law, including a man who was given 14 months in prison for wearing a T-shirt with a protest slogan. A second man received 10 months for writing pro-independence messages on the back of bus seats. In June, Chu Kai-pong wore a shirt reading “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,” a slogan chanted during anti-government protests in 2019. The city’s new security law, which critics say further stifles freedom of expression, took effect in March and imposes stiffer punishments. The 2019 protest movement was the most concerted challenge to the Hong Kong government since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.