A Hong Kong pastor and a housewife were both jailed on Thursday after they were convicted of sedition for clapping in court and criticising a verdict against a democracy activist, local media reported.

The sentence is the latest under Hong Kong's sedition law, once a little-used hangover from the British colonial period that has been embraced by prosecutors as China cracks down on dissent in the city.

Evangelical pastor Garry Pang and housewife Chiu Mei-ying were both convicted of "uttering seditious words" after they used applause and comments in court to criticise a verdict against a jailed democracy activist.

Pang, 59, was given a year-long sentence while Chiu, 68, received three months.

Pang was separately convicted of another sedition count for comments on his YouTube channel about democracy protests.

The two regularly attended activists' trials, which have filled Hong Kong's courts since a crackdown followed huge protests three years ago.

"Pang not only openly admitted he clapped, he also criticised the magistrate of being conscienceless ... which incited others to despise the judiciary," magistrate Cheng Lim-chi said, according to local publication The Witness, which covers Hong Kong courts.

Cheng also found that Chiu called the sentencing magistrate "unjust".

More than 200 people -- the bulk of them activists, former elected lawmakers, unionists and journalists -- have been arrested on national security charges since mid-2020.

About one-fifth of those arrested have been hit with charges of sedition, which is treated as a national security crime.

Critics say the national security campaign has eviscerated freedoms and begun transforming Hong Kong's legal system, while Beijing says order has been restored in the wake of the demonstrations.

Thursday's verdict came a day after Hong Kong was demoted in the World Justice Project's annual global rule of law index.

The city fell three places to 22 out of 140 regions and countries. It was the second-largest drop in the Asia-Pacific region after Myanmar, where the military seized power last year.

The Hong Kong government rejected the lower ranking, saying it was "possibly due to the lack of an accurate and overall understanding of the real situation of the city".

US condemns fraud conviction of Hong Kong media tycoon Lai
Washington (AFP) Oct 26, 2022 - The United States on Wednesday slammed the fraud conviction of Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, warning the Chinese territory's human rights protections are deteriorating and its once-vibrant press "has all but disappeared."

Lai was convicted on Tuesday, the latest in a slew of cases against the former owner of the now-shuttered pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said Washington condemned Lai's conviction on "spurious fraud charges" and warned such efforts to stifle press freedoms undermine China's international obligations to uphold the territory's high degree of autonomy and hurt its credibility as a business hub.

"We remain deeply concerned about the deterioration in protection for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the systematic dismantling of Hong Kong's autonomy under the National Security Law" imposed by the Chinese government (PRC), Price said in a statement.

"We urge PRC authorities to restore respect for press freedom in Hong Kong," Price said.

Lai and two former Apple Daily executives, Wong Wai-keung and Chow Tat-kuen, were accused of breaching the terms of a lease they signed with a government company for Apple Daily office space.

Lai, 74, was already behind bars over his role in huge democracy protests that swept Hong Kong three years ago. He faces an upcoming trial on national security charges where he faces up to life in prison.

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The Hague (AFP) Oct 26, 2022
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