'Three To Ten Years In Jail For Security Law Crimes'

A local deputy to the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC), Tam Yiu-chung, told the media that penalties for national security crimes under the law proposed by Beijing will range from three to ten years imprisonment.

He said mild offences will carry a sentence of around three years, while more serious crimes will entail prison terms of between five to 10 years.

He said the penalties are similar to those in Hong Kong’s criminal law.

Tam also said it is unlikely that the law will be retroactive.

Tam also said only under extremely rare circumstances will the central government’s agent on national security assume jurisdiction in Hong Kong, such as a state of emergency that the SAR government alone cannot handle, such as wars.

The Xinhua News Agency had released the details of the controversial new law but had not mentioned details of the punishment spelt out in the draft legislation.