Hong Kong police arrested Wan Yiu-sing, who hosted a show on the internet radio channel D100 under the name “Giggs,” on February 7, 2021. He is being held in detention while on trial for alleged sedition and money laundering.
Wan is an internet radio host and commentator who covers political issues in mainland China and Hong Kong for the independent internet radio channel D100, which has about 525,000 followers on its YouTube channel and about 65,000 followers on its Facebook page.
Hong Kong national security police arrested Wan on February 7 and charged him with sedition over critical comments about Hong Kong and Chinese authorities during four broadcasts, according to news reports, which said he was charged once for each of those shows.
Prosecutors cited Wan’s shows on August 8 and 15, September 5, and October 10, 2020, as evidence, according to those reports. CPJ was unable to review those episodes, which have been removed from D100’s YouTube page.
On May 10, the Department of Justice added six more charges, including one count of conspiring to act with seditious intention, and five money-laundering charges for allegedly raising funds for protesters to study in Taiwan, according to news reports. Wan’s assistant Lee Po-lai was also charged with money laundering, according to those reports.
Wan’s arrest came amid authorities’ crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy movement, which targeted many media figures and activists critical of the government and the Chinese Communist Party.
On October 12, a judge adjourned Wan’s trial until December 23, according to news reports. If convicted of sedition, he could face a fine of up to $5,000 Hong Kong dollars (US$644) and up to two years in jail for a first offense, and up to three years in jail for subsequent offenses, according to Hong Kong’s Crimes Ordinance.
Wan was hospitalized the night of his arrest and did not appear in court for his first hearing on February 8, according to reports, which did not specify why he was hospitalized. He is currently being held at Stanley Prison, those reports said.
In an email signed by the “Duty Officer Police Public Relations Branch,” the Hong Kong police did not comment specifically on Wan’s case, but wrote in September 2021 that some people arrested in the city “tried to make use of journalistic work to collude with a foreign country or external elements to impose sanction against Hong Kong and the PRC.” The email stated that such actions “deviated from the work of a professional journalist.”
The email also stated, “If any organisation or person violates the Hong Kong National Security Law or other offences, Police will conduct investigation and make arrest or prosecution according to evidence collected.”