Event Summary
On 6 September 2025, Hong Kong artist Chan King-fai received a three-week suspended jail sentence for four counts of criminal damage related to graffiti depicting Chinese characters for “freedom” combined with dollar signs in Kwai Chung and Sha Tin in 2023. Chan, representing himself, pleaded guilty and told the court he created the design in late 2022 to symbolize his desire for financial freedom. This marks his third prosecution for the same graffiti design. In June 2025, he received a similar three-week suspended sentence for 12 counts in Central and Sheung Wan, and in December 2023 received one-year probation for 20 counts. Magistrate Andy Cheng noted the cases should ideally have been handled together but police discovered the graffiti at different times, resulting in separate prosecutions totaling 36 criminal damage charges.
This event is part of an established pattern of prosecuting graffiti in Hong Kong, with enforcement varying in severity depending on content. In July 2024, an 18-year-old was charged with sedition for toilet graffiti containing words that “provoked hatred” against the government, facing up to seven years imprisonment under national security legislation. This demonstrates that graffiti prosecutions can range from property damage charges to national security offenses. The pattern shows systematic enforcement against unauthorized public markings, with authorities treating graffiti as criminal activity regardless of content, though political or potentially symbolic language can trigger more severe charges.