The 38-year-old clerk stood accused of importing 18 books from a children’s series about sheep and wolves that was at the centre of a high-profile sedition trial last year. reports HKFP
Kurt Leung, a 38-year-old clerk, appeared at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday. He is accused of importing 18 books into the city with the intention of bringing hatred to the Central and Hong Kong government, promoting “feelings of ill-will and enmity” in Hong Kong, and inciting violence.
The books were three copies each of The Guardians of Sheep Village, The Twelve Warriors of Sheep Village, The Street Cleaners of Sheep Village, Voting Day in Sheep Village, The Architects of Sheep Village and Sheep Village Daily.
According to local media reports, the books were mailed from the UK. Leung was arrested in March this year along with a 50-year-old man but had previously been on bail.
The publications are part of a series of children’s books that was at the centre of a sedition trial in July last year. The books were published by members of a pro-democracy speech therapists’ union. Prosecutors alleged they had conspired to promote separatism and incite hatred against the government by publishing the series, which depicts Hongkongers as sheep and mainland Chinese forces as wolves.
The five speech therapists – who pleaded not guilty – were convicted and jailed for 19 months each, with the judge ruling that the books intended to “brainwash” young readers.
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