Five Hong Kong speech therapists have been convicted of sedition, after they printed a series of children’s books about sheep and wolves that a court said was aimed at inciting hatred against authorities.
The five executive committee members of the General Union of Hong Kong Speech Therapists could face up to two years imprisonment.
They had pleaded not guilty to the charge of conspiring to print, publish, distribute and display and/or reproduce seditious publications.
The clampdown has led to criticism that China’s ruling Communist Party has reneged on a 1997 pledge when Hong Kong was handed over from Britain to China to retain the city’s Western-style freedoms. including free speech.
The five, Lorie Lai, Melody Yeung, Sidney Ng, Samuel Chan and Fong Tsz-ho, had been remanded in custody for more than a year prior to Wednesday’s conviction.
The sheep take action like going on strike or escaping by boat, according to the synopses published on the association’s website.
Police said that the stories published in the books paralleled the incidents linked to political unrest in Hong Kong, such as the 12 Hong Kong activists who were arrested at sea while attempting to flee the city.
The speech therapists will be sentenced on September 10.
