Hong Kong court bans protest song Glory To Hong Kong

Source: The Straits Times

HONG KONG - Hong Kong's appeal court on May 8 banned Glory To Hong Kong, a protest song that emerged during the city's massive democracy demonstrations in 2019.

Penned anonymously, its lyrics include the slogan "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times", and the song has been all but illegal to sing or play since the authorities crushed the protests and Beijing imposed a national security law quelling dissent in 2020.

The decision by the Court of Appeal on May 8 would make Glory To Hong Kong the first song to be banned in the former British colony since it was handed over to China in 1997.

"(We) are satisfied that an injunction should be granted," appeal judge Jeremy Poon wrote in a decision, granting an order that would stop a range of acts including broadcasting and performing the song.

Officials in June had requested an injunction to ban Glory To Hong Kong but were refused by the High Court in a surprise ruling, which said a ban could have a "chilling effect" on innocent third parties.

The court also said then that the injunction did not have "any real utility", which judges in the Court of Appeal disagreed with on May 8.

"The composer of the song has intended it to be a 'weapon' and so it had become," wrote Mr Poon.

Civil injunction is needed as "criminal law alone would not achieve the public interest purpose of safeguarding national security".