‘Tam Tak-chi used protest slogans to incite hatred’

Prosecutors on Thursday alleged that pro-democracy activist Tam Tak-chi used popular slogans of the 2019 protests – such as “liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times” and “five demands, not one less” – to incite hatred and contempt of the central and Hong Kong governments.

The People Power activist, also known as ‘Fast Beat’, is facing eight counts of uttering seditious words and six other protest-related charges, over remarks he made at street booths set up around Hong Kong from January to July last year.

In their opening statement at the District Court, prosecutors accused Tam of also chanting slogans such as “down with the Chinese Communist Party” and “corrupt cops, may your whole family die”.

They also alleged that the activist had made baseless accusations against the Hong Kong government and the police, such as saying officers had beaten people and made arbitrary arrests.

Over two hours of video footage will be played in court, and prosecutors plan to call seven witnesses to back up their case. These include Lingnan University history professor Lau Chi-pang, who testified for prosecutors in the city’s first national security trial.

During the District Court hearing, national security judge Stanley Chan gave a stern warning to members of the public, saying they had laughed and spoken loudly in the courtroom.

Claiming they had, to some degree, committed contempt of court, the judge asked prosecutors to prepare a video recorder, saying the court might give them permission to film people in court for possible follow-up action if there are more violations.

Tam has been remanded in custody since September last year.