Activist Courts Jail Again For Flag Offences

A veteran activist was jailed again on Tuesday for desecrating national and SAR flags after he pleaded guilty to the offences, saying he was protesting against the Chinese Communist Party.

League of Social Democrats (LSD) member Koo Sze-yiu was jailed for two months for desecrating the flags while taking part in three protests held last year and early this year.

The court heard that the national flags Koo carried during a July candlelight vigil over Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo's death, and at a rally against the disqualification of six lawmakers, were displayed upside down with slogans written on them.

Then during the march on New Year's Day, Koo carried an SAR flag upside down, with the words "mourn" and "rest in peace" on them in Chinese.

The 71-year-old pleaded guilty to the three flag desecration offences.

Koo asked Eastern Court not to show him any sympathy or mercy, warning he will commit the same offence again in the future regardless of the consequences.

He said he wanted to show his discontent towards the Chinese Communist Party because it stamps on human rights, suppresses different voices and locks up dissidents.

Passing sentence, magistrate Li Chi-ho said the defendant's actions were carried out "openly and deliberately", and he noted that Koo committed one of the offences while he was on bail over another case.

The magistrate said for each offence, he would jail the activist for two months, to run concurrently. The court also heard that Koo had already been convicted six times of flag desecration offences.