Democracy activist Ma Chun-man, who was expected to be released March 25, had been held back.
HONG KONG - Hong Kong leader John Lee said on March 26 that people convicted on national security charges would no longer be eligible for early release for good behaviour, under a new law enacted by the city’s authorities over the weekend.
Hong Kong’s massive and at times violent pro-democracy protests in 2019 brought hundreds of thousands to the streets demanding greater autonomy from Beijing.“It’s been made very clear that if a prisoner is serving a sentence in respect to his conviction of an offence endangering national security, the prisoner is not entitled to remission,” Mr Lee said on March 26 about the new law when asked about Ma’s case.
“The ordinance has also made it clear that the new rule applies no matter if the sentence of the prisoner was imposed before or after the commencement of the relevant amendment,” Mr Lee said, adding exceptions could be made by the correctional services commissioner.– two days before Ma’s scheduled release – putting into immediate effect tough penalties of up to life imprisonment for certain national security crimes, including treason and insurrection.
Ma, 34 – nicknamed “Captain America 2.0“ for carrying a replica of the Marvel superhero’s shield at protest rallies in 2019 – was convicted of “incitement to secession” in 2021.
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