Hong Kong police arrest man for sedition over protest flag

Hong Kong police have arrested a 40-year-old man on suspicion of using seditious words after a flag with a banned protest slogan was seen hanging outside his apartment

HONG KONG -- Hong Kong police have arrested a 40-year-old man on suspicion of using seditious words after a flag with a banned protest slogan was seen hanging outside his apartment. Police received a report on Monday from a passerby who spotted the flag bearing the banned slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our times” hanging from a laundry rack outside the apartment in the Mong Kok neighborhood in Kowloon, police said Tuesday. Officers arrested the man, who remains in detention, police said. He was not identified. If charged and convicted of sedition, first-time offenders face up to a 5,000 Hong Kong dollar ($644) fine and two years' imprisonment. The slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our times” was often chanted by protesters during months of anti-government demonstrations in 2019 as they demanded broader democratic freedoms during a time when China began exerting more control over the semi-autonomous city.