1 of 4| In this image taken from video, a police van believed to be carrying jailed university student Lui Sai-yu arrives at the Hong Kong Final Court of Appeal for the outcome of the sentence in Hong Kong. , on Tuesday, August 22, 2023. The jailed Hong Kong university student lost his bid to reduce his five-year sentence for inciting secession in a landmark ruling by the city's high court on Tuesday that will have far-reaching impact in other cases filed under a national security law imposed by Beijing. law. (AP Photo/Katie Tam)
2 of 4| In this image taken from video, a police van believed to be carrying jailed university student Lui Sai-yu arrives at the Hong Kong Final Court of Appeal for the outcome of the sentence in Hong Kong. , on Tuesday, August 22, 2023. The jailed Hong Kong university student lost his bid to reduce his five-year sentence for inciting secession in a landmark ruling by the city's high court on Tuesday that will have far-reaching impact in other cases filed under a national security law imposed by Beijing. . (AP Photo/Katie Tam)
3 of 4| In this image taken from video, police officers use an inflatable to cover a police van believed to be carrying jailed university student Lui Sai-yu arrives at the Hong Kong Final Court of Appeal to hear the outcome of the ruling in Hong Kong on Tuesday. , August 22, 2023. The jailed Hong Kong university student lost his bid to reduce his five-year sentence for inciting secession in a landmark ruling by the city's high court on Tuesday that will have far-reaching impact on others cases brought under a national security law imposed by Beijing. (AP Photo/Katie Tam)
4 of 4| A woman looks at a document in front of Hong Kong's Final Court of Appeal, Tuesday, August 22, 2023. A jailed university student in Hong Kong lost his bid to reduce his five-year sentence for inciting secession in a landmark ruling. by the city's high court on Tuesday that will have a far-reaching impact on other cases brought under a national security law imposed by Beijing. (AP Photo/Kanis Leung)
Hong Kong court upholds minimum sentences for violating security law imposed by Beijing
1 of 4| In this image taken from video, a police van believed to be carrying jailed university student Lui Sai-yu arrives at the Hong Kong Final Court of Appeal for the outcome of the sentence in Hong Kong. , on Tuesday, August 22, 2023. The jailed Hong Kong university student lost his bid to reduce his five-year sentence for inciting secession in a landmark ruling by the city's high court on Tuesday that will have far-reaching impact in other cases filed under a national security law imposed by Beijing. law. (AP Photo/Katie Tam)
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In this image taken from video, a police van believed to be carrying jailed university student Lui Sai-yu arrives at the Hong Kong Final Court of Appeal for the outcome of the sentence in Hong Kong. , on Tuesday, August 22, 2023. The jailed Hong Kong university student lost his bid to reduce his five-year sentence for inciting secession in a landmark ruling by the city's high court on Tuesday that will have far-reaching impact in other cases filed under a national security law imposed by Beijing. law. (AP Photo/Katie Tam)
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2 of 4| In this image taken from video, a police van believed to be carrying jailed university student Lui Sai-yu arrives at the Hong Kong Final Court of Appeal for the outcome of the sentence in Hong Kong. , on Tuesday, August 22, 2023. The jailed Hong Kong university student lost his bid to reduce his five-year sentence for inciting secession in a landmark ruling by the city's high court on Tuesday that will have far-reaching impact in other cases filed under a national security law imposed by Beijing. . (AP Photo/Katie Tam)
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In this image taken from video, a police van believed to be carrying jailed university student Lui Sai-yu arrives at the Hong Kong Final Court of Appeal for the outcome of the sentence in Hong Kong. , on Tuesday, August 22, 2023. The jailed Hong Kong university student lost his bid to reduce his five-year sentence for inciting secession in a landmark ruling by the city's high court on Tuesday that will have far-reaching impact in other cases filed under a national security law imposed by Beijing. . (AP Photo/Katie Tam)
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3 of 4| In this image taken from video, police officers use an inflatable to cover a police van believed to be carrying jailed university student Lui Sai-yu arrives at the Hong Kong Final Court of Appeal to hear the outcome of the ruling in Hong Kong on Tuesday. , August 22, 2023. The jailed Hong Kong university student lost his bid to reduce his five-year sentence for inciting secession in a landmark ruling by the city's high court on Tuesday that will have far-reaching impact on others cases brought under a national security law imposed by Beijing. (AP Photo/Katie Tam)
3 of 4
In this image taken from video, police officers use an inflatable to cover a police van believed to be carrying jailed university student Lui Sai-yu arrives at the Hong Kong Final Court of Appeal to hear the outcome of the ruling in Hong Kong on Tuesday. , August 22, 2023. The jailed Hong Kong university student lost his bid to reduce his five-year sentence for inciting secession in a landmark ruling by the city's high court on Tuesday that will have far-reaching impact on others cases brought under a national security law imposed by Beijing. (AP Photo/Katie Tam)
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4 of 4| A woman looks at a document in front of Hong Kong's Final Court of Appeal, Tuesday, August 22, 2023. A jailed university student in Hong Kong lost his bid to reduce his five-year sentence for inciting secession in a landmark ruling. by the city's high court on Tuesday that will have a far-reaching impact on other cases brought under a national security law imposed by Beijing. (AP Photo/Kanis Leung)
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A woman looks at a document in front of Hong Kong's Final Court of Appeal, Tuesday, August 22, 2023. A jailed university student in Hong Kong lost his bid to reduce his five-year sentence for inciting secession in a landmark ruling. by the city's high court on Tuesday that will have a far-reaching impact on other cases brought under a national security law imposed by Beijing. (AP Photo/Kanis Leung)
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ByKANIS LEUNG
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HONG KONG (AP) — A jailed college student who pleaded guilty to inciting secession in Hong Kong lost his bid to reduce his five-year sentence in a court ruling Tuesday that is expected to set the standard for other cases brought under the national security law. Beijing prevailed over Hong Kong.
Lui Sai-yu pleaded guilty in April 2022, admitting that content on a Telegram channel he managed incited others to separate Hong Kong from China or illegally alter the city's legal status.
But his timely conviction did not earn him a one-third reduction in the length of his imprisonment – as in many other cases under Hong Kong's common law system – because the security law imposed minimum jail terms for serious crimes.
Lui is one of about 260 people who were arrested under the security law as Beijing tried to crush dissidents following mass protests in 2019. The high court's ruling on his appeal may guide sentencing inother national security cases, including for the city's most prominent Democratic leaders who also pleaded guilty.
The judges unanimously dismissed Lui's appeal, ruling that the minimum sentence of five years is mandatory for those who commit serious crimes in connection with secession, as stipulated by the security law.
In sentencing him last year, a lower court judge originally planned to jail Lui for 44 months after giving him a one-third sentence reduction due to his guilty plea. But he changed the sentence after the prosecution argued that the crime Lui committed was serious in nature and therefore the minimum sentence should be five years.
Lui appealed the decision but lost.
Eric Lai, visiting fellow at King's College London Law School, said local laws under the city's common law system generally do not set minimum sentences commensurate with the seriousness of the case. This is most commonly seen in Chinese laws.
Lai said the latest ruling reaffirms the paramount power of the security law.
Lui was not a prominent pro-democracy activist. He was the fourth person jailed under the comprehensive security law. He was studying civil engineering when he was first arrested in September 2020.
According to a previous ruling, his Telegram channel carried messages containing slogans often chanted by protesters in the 2019 movement that rocked the city for months.
The protests subsided with the arrests and exiles of democracy activists, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the security law.
Observers hope Tuesday's ruling will guide other cases, including the future sentence for 31 of the 47 activists whopleaded guiltytowardsubversion chargesfor his alleged involvement in an unofficial primary election in 2020. Among those activists was former student leader Joshua Wong.
Critics say the freedoms promised to the former British colony when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997 have been greatly diminished after the law was enacted. But the Hong Kong government praised him for restoring stability.
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See more AP coverage of Asia and the Pacific athttps://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific