Police in Hong detain a suspect during protests.
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)Five teenagers from Hong Kong have been sentenced for protesting against Chinese rule.
The five, between 16and 19 at the time of the alleged offence, are believed to be the first minors to be detained under the national security law which was introduced in 2020.
They had pleaded guilty to “inciting others to subvert state power” through a group called Returning Valiant.
Sentences for two more, aged 21 and 26, have been adjourned to a later date.
Justice Kwok Wai-kin said the defendants had advocated a “bloody revolution” to overthrow the Chinese state at street booths and on Instagram and Facebook, after Hong Kong’s adoption of a sweeping, China-imposed national security law.
Kwok called the alleged incitement a serious crime, but said he had taken into account their “age and immaturity” as he sentenced them to a training centre, or detention facility for young people, rather than jail.
The length of stay, capped at three years, is left to correctional authorities to decide.
Kwok added: “Even if only one person is incited by them, the social stability of Hong Kong and the safety of residents may be seriously endangered.
“There’s no evidence to directly prove that anyone was incited by the defendants to subvert state power, but this real risk exists.“
Four of the five have already been in custody for more than a year, with only one granted bail.
Prosecutors said the police had seized flags, leaflets, air guns, ammunition and extendable batons in an industrial building.
At least 22 people linked to the group were arrested last year. Several face a separate charge of conspiring to commit terrorism under the security law.
Authorities in China and Hong Kong say the security law has restored stability to the global financial hub after mass anti-government and pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Human rights experts on the United Nations human rights committee, however, called for the law to be repealed in a July report, amid concerns it is being used to crack down on fundamental freedoms.
