Ng Man-ho, a 27-year-old computer technician, was convicted last month of seven counts of incitement charges after he made use of the 100,000-member Chinese-language channel that he runs and manages to post "seditious messages," which had been shut down since August 2020. Hui said the messages, which included urging the disruption of airport operations, were attempts to incite followers to make use of poisonous, corrosive or flammable substances to vandalize police vehicles, and also called on others to make weapons to harm police. But a Telegram statement also said: "Any requests related to political censorship or limiting human rights such as the rights to free speech or assembly are not and will not be considered." In handing down the sentence yesterday, deputy judge Peter Hui Shiu-keung of the district court said that even if Ng did not post the messages, he cannot shirk responsibility as the owner and administrator of such a big group for allowing these messages that incite illegal behaviors to exist. Hui said the time period and nature of some offences “overlapped” and thus their prison terms could be served concurrently. The judge ordered Ng to be jailed for a total of six years and six months.
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