By Jessie Pang

HONG KONG, (Reuters) – The ex-leader of the pro-independence Hong Kong group Studentlocalism was sentenced Tuesday to a total 43-month term in prison. He tried to seperate Hong Kong from China and also for laundering money.

Tony Chung (age 20) was charged in October 2020 with money laundering and secession under a wide-ranging national security law. According to local media, he was detained by two men in a nearby coffee shop and accused of preparing to file an asylum request.

Chung agreed to plead guilty and admitted guilt on one charge of money laundering, and also the charge of secession.

This plea resulted in a 25% decrease to his sentence to 40 months of secession and 18 to money laundering. A total sentence of 43 month will result. Only 3 months of this latter portion will be done separately.

Stanley Chan, District Court Judge said that Chan had “actively organised, planned and executed activities to divide the country”.

Ivan Cheung the Prosecutor stated that the defendant had acted as administrator for Facebook (NASDAQ) pages of Studentlocalism’s U.S. branch and an organization called Initiative Independence Party.

According to the prosecution, his house was also searched for pro-independence flags, books and T-shirts. It was related to the donations that he had received through PayPal (NASDAQ):

Studentlocalism was disbanded in the same way as other anti-government organizations. Beijing issued the security law in June 2020 to penalize anything that it considers subversion, secession or collusion with foreign force. This could lead to up to life imprisonment.

While the vast majority of Hong Kong residents don’t support independence, Beijing considers any hint of it to be an insult.

Hong Kong took a rapid authoritarian turn after the passage of security laws. Many democratic politicians are currently in jail, or have fled to self-imposed exile. Numerous civil societies organisations and rights organizations in Hong Kong have closed down, while some have left.

Chinese and Hong Kong officials deny that the security law violates individual rights. However, they claim the legislation is necessary in order to restore stability following mass street protests in 2019.

In 1997, the former British colony was returned to China under Chinese control with the promise that it would enjoy a great deal of autonomy. Some Western governments and democracy activists claim that China has broken that promise, an accusation Beijing vigorously refutes.