A Hong Kong man jailed for insulting the national anthem during the opening ceremony of an international volleyball match has abandoned an appeal against his conviction and eight-week sentence.
Chan Pak-yui’s counsel told the High Court on Thursday that the 22-year-old jobless man would like to serve his sentence after further discussions with his lawyers. Mrs Justice Judianna Barnes ordered the appeal to be quashed after confirming the appellant’s intention.
The hearing would have been the first inquiry by an appellate court into a guilty verdict under the 2020 National Anthem Ordinance, which penalises misuse of “March of the Volunteers” and insulting conduct.
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Chan was convicted for an array of disruptive acts while the anthem played before a women’s Volleyball Nations League match at the Coliseum in Hung Hom on June 16, 2023.
In the trial earlier this year, he admitted he had booed the national anthem, displayed a thumbs-down gesture, plugged his ears and chanted the chorus of “Do You Hear the People Sing”, a Hong Kong protest song originating from the 1987 Broadway smash hit Les Miserables.
The accused said his disrespectful behaviour was directed towards the pro-China crowd, as he supported its opponent Bulgaria and was annoyed by the spectators’ attire, which featured Disney characters.
Kowloon City Court Magistrate Kestrel Lam Tsz-hong rejected his defence that his response was the result of his autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which he was diagnosed with at the age of six.
Instead, the magistrate held that Chan deliberately committed the offensive acts because he “did not like the Chinese team and the national anthem”, citing a statement the defendant gave to police after his arrest.
Chan has lost a chance to pursue a music degree in Australia because of the case.
Insulting the national anthem is punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment.
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