- High Court asked to restrain ‘broadcasting, performing, printing, publishing, selling, offering for sale, distributing, disseminating, displaying or reproducing song in any way’
- Injunction also targets anyone inciting others to separate city from mainland, commit a seditious act or insult national anthem
Hong Kong is seeking a court order to permanently bar anyone from advocating a popular song from the 2019 protests. Photo: Felix WongHong Kong is seeking a court order to permanently bar anyone from advocating a popular song from the 2019 protests.
The High Court was on Tuesday processing an unprecedented application from the justice secretary for an injunction against “Glory to Hong Kong”, widely considered the unofficial anthem for the protests triggered by a now-shelved extradition bill.
The writ, filed a day earlier, asked the court to restrain those harbouring criminal intent from “broadcasting, performing, printing, publishing, selling, offering for sale, distributing, disseminating, displaying or reproducing in any way” the tune.
The injunction also targets anyone who intends to incite others to separate Hong Kong from mainland China, commit a seditious act or insult the national anthem “March of the Volunteers”.
The court order, if granted, would also prohibit anyone from playing the song in a manner that was likely to cause it “to be mistaken as the national anthem insofar as the [Hong Kong Special Administrative Region] is concerned”, or suggest that Hong Kong “is an independent state and has a national anthem of her own”.
The order would also cover “any adaptation of the song, the melody and/or lyrics of which are substantially the same as the song”.
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People can also be found guilty of contempt of court for helping or knowingly allowing others to participate in any of the stipulated acts.
A government statement said the legal move was to fulfil constitutional responsibility to safeguard national security and preserve the national anthem’s dignity.
It highlighted recent incidents where “Glory to Hong Kong” was repeatedly mistakenly presented as the city’s national anthem.
“This has not only insulted the national anthem but also caused serious damage to the country and the HKSAR,” the statement said.
The statement also suggested the song was very likely to still be widely disseminated contrary to the national security law and local legislation.
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It stressed Monday’s application pursued the legitimate aim of safeguarding national security and was “necessary, reasonable, legitimate, and consistent with the [Hong Kong] Bill of Rights”.
“In fact, the injunction complements existing laws and serves to clarify to members of the public that acts mentioned above may constitute criminal offences; they should not take their chances and attempt to break the law,” the statement added.