Hong Kong street performer arrested after singing anti-China protest song

Hong Kong Free Press

An elderly busker has been sentenced to over two weeks in jail after he performed the protest song “Glory to Hong Kong” in public.

This is the second time that Li Jiexin, a street performer in Hong Kong, has been sentenced to jail over unlicensed performances. Both instances were due to him singing the protest song which was popularized during the pro-democracy protests in 2019.

Judge Ivy Chui at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on Tuesday sentenced Li to 18 days in prison after he pleaded guilty to eight counts. Local media report that these counts include performing a musical instrument and raising funds without a license.

During Thursday's soccer game at Hong Kong Stadium, police said that two men and one woman were arrested after they 'turned their backs toward the pitch and did not stand for the playing of the national anthem.'

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Li initially faced six charges of performing a musical instrument without a permit and six charges of raising funds without a permit, as reported by local media. The other four charges have been stored on the court file.

Li was sentenced last October to 30 days in prison after he performed in public without a license, again performing the anthem, an act that was branded as “soft resistance” by Magistrate Amy Chan, reports the Hong Kong Free Press.

The court also provided an application by the prosecution to confiscate Li’s amplifier, which he had used to perform.

Before these second-round charges, Li was arrested on suspicion of “doing an act with seditious intention” after police observed him performing "Glory to Hong Kong" in public. He was subsequently charged with performing and raising funds without a permit.

Li is accused of playing the erhu, a traditional Chinese two-stringed instrument, in public without lawful authority or excuse and without a permit issued by the Commissioner of Police between September 27 and October 4 of last year.

The defence claimed that Li acted in ignorance, as he believed he was not in violation of the law because he was not obstructing pedestrians’ path nor intending to provoke negative reactions from people.

Since taking over the island, Beijing has been cracking down on all politician dissent in Hong Kong, where once free speech was allowed, it may now result in a prison sentence.

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It was decided that Li’s performance of the protest song was not an isolated incident and that the offences related to Tuesday’s convictions were committed during the course of another trial from last year over similar charges.

Li has been sentenced to 18 days in prison.