Terminally ill Hong Kong activist Koo Sze-yiu jailed over planned Olympics protest

Hong Kong — A Hong Kong activist with terminal cancer was jailed Tuesday for attempted sedition over a planned protest against Beijing's Winter Olympics that was foiled by a pre-emptive arrest. Koo Sze-yiu was arrested on February 4, the opening day of the Winter Olympics, after he had announced plans to protest outside Beijing's liaison office in Hong Kong.

The 75-year-old was formally charged the next day with "attempting to do or making any preparation to do an act or acts with seditious intention" — a colonial-era offence — and denied bail.

Principal magistrate Peter Law on Tuesday jailed Koo for nine months, saying that the "serious" case required a deterrent sentence.