Hong Kong court backs gov’t move to ban protest song

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – The move to ban a protest song in Hong Kong was granted approval by an Appeals Court on Wednesday.

In its order, the court also overturned a lower court’s order that cited free speech concerns after the semi-autonomous government’s move to ban the song – Glory to Hong Kong.

The government lawyer told the court that the song composer had called it a “weapon” that he “contributed to the 2019 protests,” Hong Kong Free Press news reported.

Hong Kong witnessed massive anti-government protests in 2019, following which China imposed a controversial national security law in 2020. Hong Kong has implemented its own version of the law this year.

The song contains "liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times” phrases which were witnessed during the demonstrations.

Last year, the government had sought an injunction to criminalize acts of performance of the song that “involved illegal intentions.”

It argued that the song “mistakenly presented… repeatedly” as the city’s anthem.

The song was played at several events instead of China’s anthem, March of the Volunteers.

“The song is regarded by the composer himself as a weapon,” Senior Counsel Benjamin Yu said in December.

Glory to Hong Kong was “mistaken as Hong Kong’s national anthem more than 800 times,” Yu added.