6 accused of seditious acts at Hong Kong court hearings

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong police have used a long-dormant colonial-era sedition law to arrest six people on suspicion of causing a nuisance at earlier court hearings. The government said the six were suspected of committing an “act or acts with seditious intent” that “severely affected jurisdictional dignity and court operations.” Police were not more specific about their alleged actions. The sedition law had been dormant before being revived recently to arrest and prosecute pro-democracy activists. An activist in March became the first person convicted of sedition since Hong Kong’s handover from colonial Britain to China in 1997. A sweeping crackdown on political dissent since the 2019 protests has left most of Hong Kong’s outspoken pro-democracy activists either jailed or in exile.