Hong Kong man in court over seditious acts, media arson threats calls it ‘mischief’

A Hong Kong man accused of threatening to burn down the offices of five local media outlets if they did not publish seditious articles has described his actions as mischief, a court has heard.West Kowloon Court on Friday granted a request by Tse Chun-pan, 43, to adjourn the hearing for two months so that his lawyers could continue negotiations with prosecutors regarding his plea.Tse, who said he was a social security officer, faces one count of knowingly publishing seditious articles and six counts of threatening to destroy or damage property. He was denied bail when he first appeared in court on November 27.The defendant allegedly sent letters to China Daily, Sing Tao News Corporation, the South China Morning Post, Epoch Group and Ta Kung Wen Wei Media Group on June 7 last year, threatening to set fire to their offices if they refused to publish a report that could breach the domestic national security law.According to the sedition charge, Tse operated a website using Israeli service provider Wix between April 19 and July 31, aiming to arouse hatred or contempt towards the local administration and to incite others to break the law.Chief Magistrate Victor So Wai-tak noted that, under police caution, the defendant had said he had only intended “to play tricks on a certain person” by committing the alleged offences.