A Hong Kong street artist who was previously convicted for tagging the word “Freedom” across the city has been charged again for spray-painting the same Chinese characters on 20 occasions early this year.
Appearing before Principal Magistrate Don So at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts on Wednesday, Chan King-fai, 41, was granted bail with a bond of HK$12,500, and had his next court appearance adjourned to April 30.
Chan, identified as a “street artist” in court, was charged with 20 counts of criminal damage for tagging the Chinese characters for “Freedom” combined with dollar signs in the vicinity of Central and Sheung Wan, the court heard.
According to a court document, Chan had allegedly damaged walls, canopies, advertisement boards, hoardings, hawker stalls and electrical boxes belonging to various companies, stores, and the Hong Kong government “without lawful excuse” between January 5 and February 5 this year.
He had allegedly done so on 20 separate occasions “with the intention of damaging or being reckless as to whether or not the property would be damaged,” the document read.
Second arrest
Chan was arrested the second time on January 27 following a police investigation, police told InMedia.
He was previously arrested in February 2023 for tagging objects including buildings, shops, fuse boxes, bridges, and private vehicles across the city between January and February that year.
In December 2023, Chan was sentenced to a one-year probation order for tagging the word “Freedom” across Hong Kong some 130 times, after admitting 20 counts of criminal damage and telling police that the graffiti was a response to financial pressure.
The graffiti was also an emotional outlet that allowed him to express the importance of financial freedom, he told the court a month before he was sentenced.
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