Carrie Lam denies Hong Kong activist’s sedition arrest a threat to free speech, declines to address police tackling of 12-year-old girl

HONG KONG, Sept 8 (SCMP): Hong Kong’s embattled leader has defended the arrest of an opposition activist with a seldom-used, colonial-era sedition law, saying it had “nothing to do with” freedom of speech and that criticising the government would not fall foul of the offence.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on Tuesday weighed in on Sunday’s controversial detainment of Tam Tak-chi, vice-chairman of the localist party People Power, for “uttering seditious words” by the police force’s new national security unit.